The only one
by Azumiya Satsuki
Summary: Fem!Karma x Asano - Asano hates Akabane and Akabane hates Asano. Or not really. This is the story of how they happily kill each other every day and fall in love in process. Oh, by the way, the chairman ships it, Asano is a dork, Karma is savage and this was supposed to be a one shot but eh... too many ideas... too much shipping material... XD Just try it
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys! This fanfic is going to be about Fem!Karma and Asano (yes, pairing) because I adore them and their competitive relationship is just sooooooo sweet. The rating will be T for language, genres are Humour and FLUFF(is that a genre?) Either way, I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please review! XD**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

The next school year started, this time in High school, meaning one thing.

Akabane Karma was in class A.

No matter how much I hated the fact, I just couldn't do anything about it. Yes, she was currently the number one in our school. Yes, she really made sure to remind me of it _every fucking minute_ and yea, I hated her, even more than usual. I mean, although she stopped being all that violent and shit, she still enjoyed torturing and pranking people. Me especially, though it rarely worked out with me. Which fired her up even more.

Either way, this semester, I was going to take my first place back and then wipe that smug grin off her face.

The bell just rang, announcing the start of the period and that redheaded deliquent of a girl was still nowhere to be found. Huh, just after three weeks of school, she was already skipping? How arrogant. She wasn't going to even end up second this way.

I smiled at that thought and then answered when the teacher started taking attendance. It was quite annoying that even in alphabet, Akabane was first and I second but it meant nothing to me. Nothing at all. It didn't bother me at all... Damn, why was the Chairman's name so lame?!

Anyway, I listened to the teacher's lessons. Nothing new to be honest, science wasn't all that hard after all. After ten minutes, however, a loud thud interrupted his boring speech and drew everyone's attention to the door. There stood our infamous student, her long hair messy instead of being pulled into her usual ponny tail. At first I thought she just overslept or something but examing her further, I had the feeling something was off. Maybe the slightly clenched teeth or her pale complexion, but it seems no one noticed.

"A-Akabane-san, uhm, please take a seat." The old teacher stuttered, not sure of how to speak with her. Ah right, no one knew how to talk to her from now on. She used to be the violent devil from class E after all but now? She stood above us and in this school, as everyone knows, grades were everything.

When the girl did so, the teacher asked, nervous: "Do you have any reasons for coming late?"

The redhead gave him a smile which I found a bit strained: "Soooorry~ I saw a really cute cat so I followed it and then there was an old lady who needed help so I just gave her a hand. After that I saw the sky shining brightly with angels descending and they told me that I'm-"

"Akabane, that's enough." A vein popped on my head and I convulsively held my pen in oder not to throw it at her, breaking it into two.

She just shrugged, giving me a mischeavous look and then taking out her things. Her stupid behaviour made me forget my first impression of her today.

* * *

It was the fifth period now, leaving us with another two hours before being allowed to go home. For some reason, today felt peaceful and silent, much to my delight. I figured out why immediately - the annoying former E-class student wasn't talking. Since the morning, she didn't leave her desk and didn't utter a single word. Did she have something evil planned out?

Finding it quite suspicious, I glanced at her from the front (she was just two desks behind me). As usual, she was lying on the surface though unlike before, her hair was covering half of her face, making it impossible for me to say whether she was sleeping or just provoking us.

But when I looked carefully, I started noticing something strange. Her body was tense, shivering maybe. The part of her face that was visible showed way too pale skin, white as sheet, and her breathing gave the impression of being uneven and careful. Something in my stomach jumped and I found myself frowning. Maybe it wouldn't harm to just make sure if anything was the matter, would it?

When the fifth period ended and when everyone from the class disappeared into the corridors, I walked up to Akabane who was still splashed on her table.

"Hey," I called out, not really sure whether that was a greeting or a challange for a fight.

The redhead turned her head to see me and then straightened up, pulling her hair out of her face: "Hello, Number 2-kun. Do you need anything?"

"Stop with that ridiculous nickname," my voice was calm.

Karma maliciously smiled, pursing her lips: "But it suits you so well."

As I thought, she was deathly pale and forcing the smiles. It didn't seem as though she was sick or had a fever since her cheeks weren't flushed and her eyes still sharp but there must have been something troubling her. I might have been staring at her for way too long because she started fidgeting, her mask slipping for a bit and I saw a hint of pain in her face.

"What is it, Asano-kun? Falling for me the first thing in this school year?" She used a playful tone, one which would most likely enrage me if it weren't for the clenched fist she was hiding under the desk.

Grabbing her wrist, I locked my gaze with her surprised eyes and authoritatively ordered: "Cut the crap, Karma. I can see something is wrong." then I gulped, adding a bit more gently which honestly horrified both of us: "Are you sick?"

The girl took some time to react, pulling her hand away: "No, I'm perfectly fine."

Dissatisfied with her reply, I demanded an answer: "I don't believe you, you goddamned liar. Spit it out,"

Clearly irritated by my ranting, she violently stood up: "I said that everything is fine! Besides, why do you care so mu-"

And right then, her face lost all of the colour she had left (which wasn't much) and she grabbed her stomach as if having been punched, keeling over. I immediately caught before she hit the ground and carefuly sat down on the floor, supporting her with my hands.

"Akabane!" I shook her but to no avail. "Oi, Karma, what's wrong?!"

Now that she was unconsciouss and she had absolutely no control over her expression, it was painted in agony, scaring me even more. I already took out my phone to call the ambulance but got stopped when she started stirring.

Squinting her eyes, she opened them to see me hovering over her. The redhead was pretty confused and she tried to sit up, failing miserably and falling back to my arms with a whimper.

And that's it, no more playing around: "Stay put, I'm calling the ambulance."

But my heart skipped a beat when her hand clutched mine (she was strong), resulting in the phone falling down.

"Don't," she plead, I repeat - _plead_ \- although her whole body was undoubtedly hurting. I don't get it, why was this girl so stubborn?

"Karma, you just collapsed right before me and are obviously in a lot of pain. I'm taking you to the hospital so let go of me and focus on not fainting again."

She however paid no heed to my words: "Don't, please. It's nothing serious, really."

"What's wrong with you then? ' _Nothing serious'_ you say while motionlessly lying in my arms. If it weren't serious, you would jump up right now and kick me in the face for touching you."

"It's really nothing serious, I swear."

Narrowing my eyes, I demanded an explanation: "Then what is it? Tell me right now and I will see whether you need a doctor or not."

Akabane sighed, rubbing her eyes. She seemed very hesitant to say it since she repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, trying to speak up but something preventing her from doing it. Noticing that, I reached out for the mobile, having no patience to spare (because if she was seriously injured, every second would be precious).

That's when she began to talk: "It's..."

"It's?" I repeated, looking at her.

"Y-you know... that t-time of... the month. The... girly... thing..." her cheeks flushed and she averted her eyes, looking somewhere into distance.

It took me a while to proccess what she said. The time of the month? Girly thi-

Fuck.

"You are... uhm... on your pe-"

"Yeah." the girl stopped me, the embarrassement affecting both of us. I would be surprised if the two of us weren't as red as tomatoes right now. For a few minutes, neither of us said a word or moved, feeling way too awkward to even breathe.

I was the first one to break the silence: "Sorry," and then I added: "But are you sure you don't want to go to a doctor? I mean, to actually pass out because of... cramps as you girls call it... that's a bit-" to which she only shook her head.

"It will get better eventually..."

Karma tried to get up once again but she clearly couldn't find her balance so I helped her sit down on a chair. Seeing how pathetic her state was, I offered: "I will tell the teacher you are not feeling well so go home."

She sarcastically snickered: "Thanks, but... I can barely move."

"Then I will call your pare-"

"Don't bother, they haven't been home for three months already." her voice sounded bitter which for some reason made my chest hurt. That might have been the reason I also suggested such a stupid thing:

"If that's the case, I have no other option. I will take you home."

My classmate widened her eyes in horror: "Number 2-kun, are you alright? Do you feel delirious or something?"

Not taking her words to my heart, I stood up: "Stay here, I'm informing the teacher and then we're going. Try to... withstand it until then." And I ran off, leaving the girl there speechless.

It took only a few minutes, using my charms and title of the perfect student council, and I was back with his permission and a very puzzled Akabane who was currently suffering. Despite this being the perfect time to mock her and to show her who is superior, even I didn't have the heart (or guts) to do anything. And anyway, it must have hurt a lot because she, the deliquent who was used to fighting and getting injured, truly had troubles even standing up, not to mention walking. To be honest, I pitied her.

"You know what, this is going to take ages," I declared after fifteen minutes of her attempt to get down the stairs, taking her into my arms and carrying her bridal style. Because piggy ride would hurt her stomach and who knows what all and the best position would be half-sitting.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She yelped but did not fight back. It seems even Akabane was wise enough to understand that she needed help.

"Taking the situation into my hands. You would die before getting home." And with that, I overcame four floors all the way down to the entrance. I stopped then, my arms hurting quite a bit.

"Damn," I cursed under breath but it sems Karma heard me.

"Am I too heavy?" she asked quietly.

"Sure as hell you are," I retorted back, continuing and heading out. That's when I noticed a soft sob coming from the person I was holding. At first I didn't want to believe but when I glanced at her, my horror came true.

Akabane Karma was crying.

"W-W-W-WHY ARE YOU- YOU KNOW I WAS JOKING RIGHT?!" I panicked since I have never made a girl cry. It was even more terrifying that the person weeping was my rival. But was she really shedding tears just because I said she is heavy?! Since when was my enemy so weak?!

The girl wiped those ugly things away and shook her head: "That's not it, sorry. Just let me be, talking with me now would be meaningless." and when did she learn the word 'sorry'?!

I didn't really understand it so I assumed it was that mood swing thing or that she couldn't bear the cramps anymore. By then, we reached the main gate where Taxi was waiting. I put the girl into it and after she said the adress, we departed from school.

The long haired girl didn't utter a word in the car, initially I thought because she was flustered or even annoyed, but it turned out she was too busy holding back and not breaking down right there. I whispered chauffeur to hurry up to which he only nodded.

After not even 5 minutes, we arrived into a great mansion (probably as big as mine). Having paid, I picked Akabane up and she passed me the keys.

"Second floor, first room on the left." The girl muttered when I opened the door. Her complexion didn't look good at all and she was puffing although the one doing the carrying was me. Not that she was that heavy, it's just a bit exhausting. The time before - I just let my tongue slip since the two of us always tease each other.

We entered her room which was quite big but simple. There was nothing in particular that I would call 'interesting' or 'girly', only big shelves with many books (not only textbooks but also manga and novels), a mirror on the wall, closets, cupboards, a desk, just an ordinary room.

Next to the writing table stood her bed, queen sized I would say, where I layed her and put some covers over her.

"Can you please give me painkillers?" she asked with closed eyes, curling up into a ball. Seeing the redhead like that, it hurt even me. "In the cupboard." she added.

Opening the cupboard, I spotted all kinds of pills in it, making me wonder why there were so many, and grabbed the one which had _painkillers_ written all over the cover. Then I went down to the kitchen (I saw it when entering the house) and brought a glass of water.

The girl gratefuly accepted them, swallowing two pills at once. Then she collapsed back to the bed and clenched her stomach.

"Do you... need anything else?" I asked, tasting the feeling of complete uselessness for the first time. But hey, what could I do? Kill mother nature? Perfect as I was, that was impossible even for me.

"Knock me out cold so that I won't have to go through this," she hissed, her voice somewhere between joking and desperately wanting to be freed from it.

Ah, it seems I still had a heart. I mean, I had such a bad feeling leaving her alone in this condition and I really wanted to help her despite the fact she was the one person I hated the most. But it seems she was also the one person I could speak to without any restrictions. That's right, Akabane Karma was that one and only person I did not have to fake kindness to. So it felt weird being kind to her for the first time, the more so when it was genuine.

"Staying here to laugh at my pathetic self? Sure, go ahead," she forced a laugh which soon died out, leaving us both in silence. Instead of returning home (because school has long ended) or saying anything back, I just decided to be of emotional help and stay there.

"I will go home when you fall asleep. Until then, I'm not leaving." I declared, sitting down right next to her and observing her reaction.

The redhead showed her surprised but maybe also a bit happy expression, muttering something about me being a weirdo. But for some reason, I knew that she was actually very glad.

For another seven minutes, she fidgeted and turned from one side to another, whimpering in pain and doing her best to hold her tears back. I don't know why but I had a strong urge to carress her cheek or hug her in comfort but fought it as that would be completly unaccaptable. In the end, she fell asleep so my presence there had no meaning anymore (not that it had any to begin with). Before leaving, however, I couldn't help but fondle her hair. And as if that single gesture took away all of her pain, she smiled in sleep.

Feeling really hot, I sprinted out of her house and back to mine.

Gosh. I now remembered the question she asked before passing out. _Why do you care so much?_

I don't know. I wanted to say that I didn't want to have a student die on me but deep down, I knew it was just an excuse.

Akabane Karma was the person I hated the most.

And despite being unwilling to admit it, she was also the one person I cared about the most.

* * *

 **I'M DYING OF CUTENESS OVERLOAAD!**

 **Anyways, I think I'm going to add some small bonuses (really short, just what comes to my mind, something like an epilogue). This is one of the few fanfictions that I'm more than 80% satisfied with so I hope you guys liked it as well!**

 ***Some parts were inspired by my own experience* *crying* *why was I born a girl* *but I get spoiled a lot so it's ok* *I guess* *I want a boyfriend who would take care of me like Asano as well* *I'm crying***


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok guys, I got some fun ideas so I wrote them XD I think you will like them! There will surely be at least one more so wait for it, ok? Maybe even more if you guys want but I would need some inspiration XD**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Roughly one month later:**

Karma's P.O.V.

I went to school as usual, expecting it to be another boring day. Indeed, the first period sucked the life out of me and I had no way of staying awake so I lied down, catching some sleep. When the alarm (I mean bell) rang, however, I found out I was competly wrong.

For the first time since _that_ affair (oh god, so embarrassing, can someone kill me? Or him?), Asano-kun approached me again, this time holding something behind his back. His gaze was running from one place to another, then it settled on the floor and his face was clearly red. I looked up at him in curiousity, not even trying to mind my sharp tongue.

"Ah, Second place-kun are you confessing to me? How sweet." resting my chin on my hand, I joked. He said nothing though which shocked me and actually made me wonder if he really was about to do something that ridiculous.

When he finally mustered some courage, he took out a teal blue bag from behind which was taped so I couldn't see what's inside. He shoved it into my face: "This is for you,"

I had no idea how to respond since Asano was the last person I'd expect a gift from and yeah, he was red. _What was this supposed to mean?!_

Hoping to find out, I took out scissors to cut the tape and had a look inside to see-

"It has been exactly 21 days since your last... _time of the month._ 21 days is said to be the minimal time between each of them so I made sure to prepare you in advance so that you wouldn't end up like before." He choked out, trying to stay cool but steam going out of his head. He was damn embarrassed and so was I.

But like... what?

He cleared his throat, his eyes focused somewhere on the right: "I researched the best pain killers and bought two packets of them. Also I read that the best thing is to keep your stomach and lower back warm so there is a rubber bag for hot water. You can then put it on where it hurts. I think you know how to use it but if not, find it on the internet. I didn't know what colour you prefer so I got you the red one since, well, _Aka_ bane. Getting tea for calming down didn't seem as a bad idea either so I bought you one packet of fruit tea and ginger as well because it warms you up. I heard that girls crave sweets so there you have some biscuits and chocolate but try not to devour it all." While I was looking into all that he has described, astonished, surprised and a bit scared too, he got even redder.

"A-And the last thing... Just f-for sure like if you needed, uhm..."

"You don't have to say it," I got seconhanded embarrassement and immediately closed the bag, hiding it in my school bag. The last thing he was so struggling with saying outloud: that idiot bought me sanitary napkins and tampoons.

"Thank you, Asano-kun, I appreciate it, but..." I whispered awkwardly and stood up, taking a book into my hand. And then I threw it at him: "YOU IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL?! THAT'S CREEPY AS FUCK AND SINCE WHEN DO YOU CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND DID YOU REALLY COUNT THE DAYS I MEAN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!"

Thanks god not many people were in the class because I must have sounded and looked like a mad witch and Asano was a mess.

But I was a bit happy, I guess, that he cared.

* * *

 **Whatcha think? Personally, I'm dying of embarrassement as well XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**AYOO EVERYONE, I'M BACK WITH ANOTHER STUPID CHAPTER!**

 **Guest: I'm glad you liked it! I ship them so much they are so sweet T.T**

 **Kasumi72: Yeah, I'm also not eager to sprout about it but it just came to my mind and as you already knows, what comes to my mind never leaves XD**

 **ShikiHimura: If you enjoyed the last one, I hope this one will be sufficient to you as well XD**

 **Arren: No need to stress over it, I still have one thing planned XD Dunno when to write it coz tomorrow I have a busy schedule. But don't hesitate to tell me ur ideas! XD**

 **ALRIGHT ENJOY!**

* * *

Third person's P.O.V.

The chairman has changed a lot in the past months thanks to a certain teacher. He came to accept his students as they were. He learned that kindness didn't mean weakness. And for the first time in who knows how long, he became able to feel love.

That, among other things, meant a significant improvement in the relationship between him and his son Gakushuu. Although the formalities have yet to be dropped, their conversation no longer consists of grades, future barbaric plans with each other and school. The atmosphere loosened up a lot. Sometimes he even saw the young boy's genuine feelings instead of that wary mask he used to wear, but as expected, the way the strawberry blond was raised influenced him a lot. And so, Gakuho knew almost nothing about his son's likes, hobbies and such since he was never trusted enough to be told.

Therefore, he thought he would find out about his son's interrests himself, turning on the boy's laptop and hacking it (yes, that was normal.) Considering that Gakushuu was a healthy 16 years old _teenager_ , the chairman expected anything - inappropriate films, books, and yes, porn.

What he came upon though left him deadpanned for a good hour. Asano Sr. sat by the computer, browsing the history and clicking on every site that was registrated there. About twenty of the google researches were under the title _'women period'_ , another ten about _'cramps'_ , then dozen of ' _how to survive period cramps'_. There were also many... original bloggs named such as _'girlystuff'_ or _'being_a_girl_sucks_ ' which wrote about the best remedies for the... the readers surely know what because Gakuho was still shocked to say it. Anyway, after that, countless searches were done under the code _'best remedies for cramps'_ then _'tea for pain'_ then _'the best sweets'._

And as if it weren't enough, the last things in the history he found were ' _help, I think I'm going nuts_ ', _'I can't stop thinking about her'_ and last - _'Someone fucking kill me'._

Well, as mentioned, Asano Sr. learned to accept his pupils as they were. Of course that applied to his only son who seemed to either have quite strange interests or have been doubting his gender, as well.

For very long, the man just sat there with his hands supporting his chin with eyes glued to the screen. Maybe he was trying to think of something that would explain what he had just seen, or maybe he was trying to come to terms with the unusual behavior of his son but it could also be that he was just so stunned he turned into a statue.

"I'm home," suddenly, there was the sound of doors opening. The man did not move from his place however, only turning his head slightly and doing his best to sound calm.

"Hello, Asa- I mean, Gakushuu-kun." He greeted him, still sitting there. It was then that the teenager realized what his father was doing or reading, to be exact, and blood rushed to the youngster's face.

"Wha-?!" The boy lunged forward, snatching the laptop from the older man and immediately shutting it off. He already wanted to scream or explain but was interrupted.

"I just want you to know that as your father, I am willing to accept every side of you." The chairman cleared his throat and continued. "Even if you are keen on... these information and are eager to learn more about the particular issue..."

"What? No! You are getting the wro-" Gakushuu stuttered, his face completly red. As if the today with Akabane throwing a book at him wasn't embarrassing enough.

"No, Asano-kun! It's alright! You don't have to hide your true self anymore!" His father however insisted on showing that he was fine with it. Whatever that 'it' was.

His son however didn't have neither enough patience nor any more blood that could rush to his face anymore and threw his hands into air: "Look, I was looking into the matter just beca-"

The chairman didn't let the latter finish, pulling him into a hug and tightly squeezing.

"It's alright, Gakushuu-kun. I understand you want to try new things." he whispered, creeping the shit out of Asano Jr. "Just rest assured that you are truly a boy. I confirmed it myself when you were born."

Needless to say it took good 4 hours for Asano-kun to throughfully explain the situation and refute all of his father's wild imaginations and opinions.

That might have been the most hectic and awkward day of his life, to be honest.

* * *

 **Bonus: after those 4 hours of talking it over**

"Oh, and one last question," the man stated, stopping his son from walking away.

Feeling sweat dropping down his spine (because really, Gakushuu was so done with everyone's shit), the boy forced a smile: "Yes?"

"Taking the whole story into consideration," Gakuho started, unusually hesitant to adress the issue. "and then your last researches on internet."

 _Oh no,_ The strawberry blond sighed, having a vague idea where it was going. Because he outright wrote it in those last three searches in google.

"Are you perhaps in love with miss Akabane Karma?"

Now it was his turn to throw something. Taking the closest thing to him (a vase with flowers), he sent it flying towards his father without even thinking. Just as he thought, he was going nuts. Unfortunatelly, the elder man catched it just in time and then put it down.

"No way in hell," Gakushuu hissed, his cheeks getting red once again. He and in love? No. Despite those 41 articles he read about a boy suddenly getting very self-consciouss around a girl being a sign of love, no.

He. Wasn't. In. Love. With. AKABANE.

Like, who the fuck would care about that deliquent of a girl? So what if her skin was completly flawless and smooth? So what if he liked the way her silky, red hair smelled like roses every time he was near her? Or that her mischieavous eyes were the most beautiful ones he had ever seen? It meant nothing! Not even the fact that he was glancing at her every here and the-

Fuck.

"Yeah, I think I love her." he admitted quietly and right after that collapsed of too rapid increase in temperature.

Indeed.

Today was a hectic day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! I'm glad you guys liked the story so far XD I think this fanfic is going to be just a bunch of (un)related ideas which come to my mind so don't expect much. Anyways, thanks so much for the reviews, they made me so happy T.T**

 **This chapter is going to be pretty romantic XDD**

* * *

School festival was about to start and the class A's theme this year was 'Theather'. The class had a wonderful idea going on their mind - to play Romeo and Juliet from Shakespear. Clichéd, right? Well, despite that, the whole class accepted because of one simple reason. And that was:

Asano Gakushuu was playing Romeo Montague.

And here came the most difficult question of their lives. Who will be his Juliet?

"Isn't it obvious?" The chairman suddenly entered the classroom, making the students calm down and stop with the heated discussion, mainly consisting of girls fighting over that role.

Just as those words were said, a certain strawberry blond froze with horror occupying his mind. His father was about to do something utterly ridiculous, wasn't he?

"I see none other better suited to be Asano-kun's Juliet than miss Akabane Karma!" he declared with a smile which would most likely charm every single person in the room. Normally.

This time, however, he was met with a great deal of objections and questioning looks. Were Akabane Karma right now in the class (she skipped again, saying that since all of the festival preparations were going on, it was going to be a pain), she would most likely throw knives at his face.

The man did not seem fazed by the reactions though, only loosening his smile and forming it into an expression somewhere near 'threatening' and 'merciless'.

"Does anyone have a problem with that?" he slowly asked, eyeing every student and sending a clear warning.

It worked quite well because not even a single sound was made then, much to the chairman's satisfaction.

And so, it was settled.

Asano Gakushuu and Akabane Karma were from now on the deeply in love pair with a tragic fate.

(Excuse me, it seems I was wrong. Romeo and Juliet were the 'deeply-in-love pair with tragic fate'. Asano and Karma were, in fact, the deep-in-shit pair with comical fate).

* * *

That evening, Asano residence:

Usually, at this hour the chairman would be sipping his coffee and reading a book while his son would be in his room, studying. Not today though.

"What the hell is this about," the youngest Asano hissed, hitting the table with his palm.

"Whatever do you mean?" Board Chairman asked, feigning innocence with a sweet smile.

It made Gakushuu want to punch the man.

"Why did you give Akabane the role of Juliet?!" he asked, something in his voice cracking. In no way was he happy. Not at all. (Or at least he thought so) What was for sure though was the fact that he felt furious and embarrassed.

"Oh dear, is it so bad to support my son in his love life?" the elder man grinned, looking very evil although, in fact, he just wanted to help. He honestly did want to help but it seems being nice didn't fit him.

"YES! I MEAN, NO!" the strawberry blond sighed, clutching his head: "I admit that the last time I said that Akabane interests me but it was just a misunderstanding. I had a very complicated day so I just blurted out a complete nonsense. She isn't anything but a rival to me. I harbor no special feelings towards her so I would appreciate it, Sir, if you did not do unnecessary things."

And with that, he sprinted into his room while trying to hide his blush and repetitively denying his feelings.

But Gakuho knew better.

And I will let you in on a big secret:

 _The chairman shipped them._

* * *

The next day started out very... lively. The first thing heard in the room was a furious voice belonging to soon-to-be Juliet.

"WHAT?!" the redheaded girl yelled out, looking very shocked. No, not shocked. Mortified.

The students who were talking to her, or at least were just a while ago - a boy and a girl - seemed to be very afraid her and trembled like chihuahuas facing a demon. Which Akabane most probably resembled at the moment. The girl noticed that the two were scared shitless, unable to answer her questions, so she turned away and searched for that one person who would surely thoroughly explain _what the fuck happened yesterday._

"What the hell do you mean by _Juliet_? Is this some kind of sick joke?" She grabbed Asano's collar, the words seething through her teeth.

The boy, however, was prepared for this reaction and had a very calm expression on, despite the fact he realized just how close they were.

"It wasn't my idea, at the very least." he sighed, looking into those amber orbs and then averting his gaze because, seriously, even when infuriated, they were beautiful.

"Can't you do something about it?! Tell the chairman-"

"I did and he had none of it." The strawberry blond interrupted her, his voice clearly annoyed. "Do you think I wanted it like this?"

The girl glared at him but let go, noticing that they were attracting too much of attention. She heard countless of whispers and gossips, mostly about how ungrateful she was for being given the chance to play with the _oh so fucking fabulous Asano-kun._

Yeah.

Fuck them.

Karma wasn't happy at all and she most certainly wasn't blushing when she read the script.

 _*And then, Romeo and Juliet kiss*_

She didn't spend the whole night thinking about it. Not at all. And the same went for Asano.

Either way, she didn't learn her text properly. The girl had declared that she was dragged into this without her own consent and that if they didn't like it, they should change the roles. They wouldn't (or couldn't, to be exact) though and she knew it which relieved her a bit. Not that she let it show to be honest.

But the reason she didn't memorize it yet was also the fact that she was distracted by that single line.

 _*Romeo and Juliet kiss*_

Which means that she and Asano would kiss.

Her prince on a white horse (we know who that is) however learned everything perfectly. He refused to admit that it was somewhat exciting, acting was his first time, but even then, it turned out he excelled in it as well.

On the current (about third) rehearsal, everything went well until:

"Oh Romeo, Romeo, why do you have to be Romeo?" Karma in a simple white dress asked while standing on the fake balcony. She didn't like the name though. She found it hard to pronounce, being Japanese and all, and she got tired of repeating it all the time.

So she changed it a bit: "Asano, Asano, why do you have to be Asano?"

No, even that was too cheesy for her. So she tried it again.

"Hey Asano, Asano, why the fuck do you have to be Asano?"

And the person in questioned deadpanned. _What the hell?_

"I mean, why do you have such a stupid name? It sounds so weird and I don't like it so rename yourself to something else or something like that, I don't remember the lines anymore." She sighed, leaning on the railing. It was going to be funnier this way. Then she waited for an answer from her Romeo. But nothing came as he was still too dumbfounded by her sudden improvisation.

"HEY ASANO! TIME FOR YOU TO SHINE YOU IDIOT!" She yelled while taking something round (a fake fruit?) from the fake tree ornament closeby and throwing it at where the strawberry blond was supposed to be.

A cry of pain was heard and suddenly the main character stepped out of a bush with a furious face. But even then, he tried to stick with the lines: "I trust your words. Just call me your love, and I will take a new name. From now on I will never be Romeo agai-"

"Oh dear, stalking me from a bush? How perverted." the redhead chuckled, the play starting to amuse her. "Besides, who are you again?"

Gakushuu had veins popping on his head but he stubbornly recited Romeo's words: "I don't know how to tell you who I am by telling you a name. I hate my name, dear saint-"

"Booooring. Just tell me who you are," the girl took another fake fruit and this time threw it into Asano's face.

The poor boy just couldn't withstand it anymore: "You know what, Juliet? Fuck you. I didn't fly on those ridiculous wings of love or whatever it was and didn't risk getting gutted by your crazy relatives just to get a tomato thrown at my face."

"Oh guts? You don't have them, considering that you showed your sorry ass only after the party. You should have used those _wings of love_ to get me the fuck out of here, it's boring and my fianceé is a pedophile. Just like you. Tch, falling for a 14 years old, don't you feel ashamed?"

"Juliet my dear, your mouth sure is running today. What about you jump down into my arms and I dodge?" The boy smiled sweetly. "If you desire to be free so much,"

"Romeo my dear, should you speak any longer, I will" Karma returned the murderous grin, practically saying that he was irritating her to death. "But promise me you will follow in my steps? It will be fun having two corpses in my mansion. My family will most likely accuse yours of killing me and burn the whole Montague residence down. Such a fun~"

"Why don't we make it easier and burn _your_ residence do-"

"STOP!" suddenly, several voices interrupted this... _passionate_ conversation.

The two main characters were too heated they forgot they had an audience.

And that among them was the Chairman himself. (who now ships them even more)

* * *

 **Ahahaha, hope you enjoyed this! XD See yaa**


	5. Chapter 5

**GUYS I'M BACK! Thanks for waiting and for reviewing, it made me so happy (and laugh a lot XD)**

 **FARTABULOUS-POOP, HillariPanri91, The Girl With 4 Fears: Yup, I'm definitely loving the idea of Chairman shipping them so I just wrote it :D He indeed presents us fangirls/boys XDD**

 **Akano Tsuki, ShikiHimura, Mythfan, Abhieghail, Arren, Aniaisha: I'm glad you guys are dying! I'm seriously pleased by the thought of having my dear readers die of laughter XDDDD No, please don't die, I love you guys too much T.T Thanks a lot :)**

 **Otakulover: Feel free to tell me your ideas, I'm actually kind of running out of them XD :/ But I have one super wonderful idea for the last (?) chapter so stay prepared!**

 **I'm sorry in advance if I take longer to update, I'm seriously trying to think of things and make them funny/fluffy so that you like it :)**

* * *

Third person's P.O.V.

After the class 1-A of Kunugigaoka High School witnessed the 'romantic' scenes of Asano Gakushuu as Romeo Montague and Akabane Karma as Juliet Capulet, they decided to rather change the topic.

It wasn't like the two of them couldn't stop bickering every scene, or that they never stuck to their lines. No one noticed that they shot each other burning glares, that each of their sweet-sounding words resembling love songs were, in fact, honest death wishes. Nor the fact that they altered the plot into a full-out war between the main characters.

Not at all.

That never crossed anyone's mind.

Because everyone knew that they perfectly fit together and needed to interact with each other more so that this beautiful love could bloom to its fullest.

 ***needless to say that the person who wrote the previous passages was brainwashed by Chairman + heavily influenced by sarcasm**

Back to the topic:

After countless serious sessions with the homeroom teacher (who was the Chairman himself, to his son's agony) and the actors, they came to a conclusion that 'Romeo and Juliet' was not to be played. For various reasons _(students' safety being one of them)._

"Does anyone have any suggestions?" One of the male students (whose name isn't important, let's call him student1) asked in one of those conferences.

Not even a single word was uttered. Overlooking the fact that the starring figures would go after each other's throat no matter which play they were doing, it didn't help that the whole class was deeply traumatized by the overly sweet and innocent smile mister Asano was wearing.

And that was also exactly why no one dared to say it outloud.

"What about you find a new Juliet or whoever it is you want and let me sleep through this?" Suddenly one courageous female voice sighed, earning everyone's attention.

Yes, those were the words everyone wanted to say. And there she was, Akabane Karma in her full cheeky self, lazily swinging on her chair.

"Miss Akabane, we have discussed this matter already. The answer is no. And please, refrain from experimenting whether it's possible to balance yourself on one chair leg. Aside from the fact that it isn't, you are in danger of hurting yourself." The adult patiently replied, his face as smooth as fuck (according to Karma).

She rolled her eyes but listened anyway.

"Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be performed?" the teacher repeated the question, eyeing all of his lab rat- students.

That's when one hand was raised. To everyone's surprise, it was also by the least expected person to it!

"In my opinion, Katherina from 'The Taming of the Shrew' is very befitting to Akabane's personality." Asano Gakushuu stated, his voice clear and determined.

 _Just a small summary of the plot:_

 _The main characters are Katherina, a stubborn, cheeky girl with sharp tongue - the 'shrew' of this story - and a sly fortune seeker Petruchio. Katherina is forced to marry this man who is determined to 'tame' her by all means available. After lots of **psychological tormenting** , Kate changes into a nice, obedient bride. In other words, he breaks her strong will._

But Karma knew about that story. She read it years ago and didn't like the end any bit: "You just want to enjoy seeing me suffer, don't you?"

The boy in question didn't even try to hide it: "It would indeed be pleasant to have you listen to each of my words." then he sweetly quoted: _"Oh heavens, Kate, I wouldn't think of burdening you. I know how light and carefree you are."_

The redhaired girl raised an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden change. But she herself knew what came after this line: _"Too light for a lout like you to catch—though no lighter than I should be."_

 _"Should be? Maybe you should be the subject of some buzz!"_ the strawberry blond continued.

 _"Buzz off, buzzard."_ The girl retorted, her face disgusted.

This was indeed getting interesting. Gakushuu played along: _If I'm a buzzard, you're a turtledove."_

 _"Only a buzzard would think so."_

 _"_ _Come, my little wasp—you're too angry."_ Asano waved his hand in a superior way.

 _"If I'm a wasp, look out for my stinger."_ Karma rested her chin on her palm, the look in her eyes dangerous.

 _"_ _All I have to do is remove it."_

The girl snickered: _"True, if a fool such as yourself could find it."_

 _"_ _Everyone knows where a wasp wears its stinger. In its tail."_ The used-to-be Ace said, enjoying this conversation way too much.

 _"_ _No, in its tongue."_ Karma's face cracked into a grin. Asano surely wouldn't think that this delinquent of a girl would remember such an irrelevant fight of Katherine and Petruchio, would he?

 _"_ _Whose tongue?"_

The grin now turned into a smug grin: " _Yours, if we're talking about tales."_

 _("Tales" here means "lies," as in "telling tales," and is a pun on "tail," which, when Petruchio first mentions it, means "butt." Their punning involves a lot of sexual innuendo. Katherine/Karma basically told Petruchio/Asano to kiss her ass.)_

And this loveful conversation would have taken another twenty minutes if it weren't for a slightly irritated chairman.

"My dear students, would you please calm down?"

Either way, the girl was satisfied with the outcome, sending a provocating kiss to her rival.

Karma 1, Asano 0

After a long pause when no one knew how to continue, another student had an idea: "What about Hamlet?"

Gakushuu immediately reacted: "I'm in favor of that idea."

The A class dared to hope that for once, they would come to an agreement without any bickering and fighting. Oh, how wrong they were.

"I'm not very sure about that," The chairman refused, shaking his head. "We need two main characters, a girl and a boy."

In other words, he wanted shipping material for his son and his soon to be wife.

"But that's exactly it, sir." The strawberry blonde declared as though it was the most obvious thing in this world. "I will be Hamlet whose love interest is Ophelia. I would be most delighted if Akabane played her role."

The girl in question frowned, the realization hitting her: "As hell I will. Ophelia is too obedient and stupid, not to mention she goes nuts and drowns herself."

This time it was Asano with a smug grin on his face: "Why not? I wouldn't mind having you die. The sooner, the better, actually. And with me playing the cunning and manful Hamlet, everything would be perfect."

"I don't want to spoil your silly expectations, but you do know that you die in the end, right Second-place-kun?"

"I die a hero, you die a screw loose." And Gakushuu returned her provocating kiss back.

Karma 1, Asano 1

But no matter how much they wanted to settle this battle, they weren't allowed to do so. Not only did they enrage the Chairman very much, their high-level conversation fried their classmates' brain.

When the score settled to [Karma 3, Asano 3], even Gakuho had to accept that those two weren't getting along any time soon, ridding them of their roles and giving them to someone else.

And then making them clean up after the theater was finished.

* * *

 **I hope that everyone knows Hamlet so I don't have to write what it is about. XD**

 **The quoted lines of 'The Taming of the Shrew' and the definition of 'tale' is from 'sparknotes dot com'. What I find really hilarious is that those two figures really fit Asan and Karma XDDDD**

 **Hope you guys liked it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ahahaha, guys, I'm so done XD I think author's block is comming T.T**

 **Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing, favouriting, following :) Love you guys so much and it's such a wonderful feeling to read reviews.**

 **Btw, you guys wanted fluff? Here you are :D Enjoy!**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

"Where is she?!" I hissed, looking around in search for a certain redhead.

Unbelievable. Unforgivable. Just... AGH.

I violently threw the broom, glad that there was no one to see me on a rampage. As for why I was pissed off: Since I and Karma were the only ones not taking part in the theater thing, we were made to tidy up. That delinquent girl said that she will go take a brush and another broom.

The play had ended about half an hour ago and **Karma. Is. Nowhere. To. Be. Fucking. SEEN.**

And I refused to clean up this chaotic mess by myself. Seriously, it looked like a hurricane came and threw up. Though to be honest, I just didn't want to grant her the joy of ditching and leaving me to take care of this all.

Therefore, I headed to the basement where she was supposed to go, not really hoping to find her there. But at least I knew that Akabane couldn't have left the school yet. There are cameras by the entrance and if she were to sneak out, the chairman would notice and force her back.

Either way, I surely didn't expect to find her laying on a few boxes playing Nintendo or whatever it was and with a lollipop in her mouth. She most probably noticed my presence but her eyes did not leave the screen, which really irritated me.

"What are you doing," I asked, trying not to show how fed up I was.

"Oh, Second-place-kun? Done with your work?" She dared to ask, still not sparing me even a look. Damn, I wanted to throw something at her. I so wanted.

Putting on a strained smile, I clenched my fists to calm down: "I might have overestimated your intelligence so I'm going to repeat it again, alright? Listen carefully."

She looked uninterested.

So I came to her, snatched that nintendo thing (earning a growl and murderous gaze) and started slowly:

"Both me _and_ you are supposed to clean up. Do you understand? Me. And. You. That's two people. Can you count to two?" I kept that sweet tone, somehow feeling satisfied seeing her getting angry.

"Give it back," she ordered with a scowl. "I haven't finished."

Turning it off (and almost getting hit by the girl) I refused, giving her a disapproving look: "Akabane, you aren't running away from your duties. Let's go before someone finds us here, I don't need any more trouble."

"If you don't want any trouble, go away and let me be. If I were to be found here with you, it would start weird rumors." She sat up, pouting. It surprised me that she worried about these kinds of things instead of saying something super sarcastic as usual.

Her long silky hair was all messy from having been lied on despite being pulled into a neat pony tail with wine-coloured ribbons. The way she tied it gave her both a cute but strong aura and when the wind decided to play with them, she looked as fierce as the Virago. But now, stray locks found their way into her face and some got tangled around her neck. Even in this dark basement, they shone bright red like roses, making those amber irises of her even more outstanding. And-

And I can't believe I just spent a whole minute thinking about her hair.

"Hey, Second-place, you there?" she waved her hand in front of my face, pulling me back from the stream of... _ridiculously useless_ thoughts.

When I was about to retort something back, what we feared the most came true. There were sounds of people going towards here and both of us flinched, panicking. I didn't really believe Karma's 'rumors' excuse for not wanting to be found here with me but not that was the last thing I cared about right now.

The reason was simple. Everyone knew that we were supposed to be cleaning now. If they saw us doing shit here... it would have a bad influence on my reputation. (As if getting punished by the chairman wasn't enough). This girl was really ruining both my image and health.

"Wha-" I yelped when Karma suddenly took my hand and pulled me somewhere. It was too dark to see where since I turned off the only source of light (the game) and this room had no windows.

"Shh," She covered my mouth and it was when we crashed into something metallic that I realized what kind of trouble I just got myself into.

I immediately yanked my hand away with the intention of escaping from this small, dark closet but the door opened, revealing two male shadows which gave me no other option but to withstand this tiny place.

Neither me nor Karma dared to move an inch, not wanting to get exposed (why again?!) and waiting for the two students to go away. It took way too long. They were talking and probably carrying things because I heard something heavy crush right beside the locker we were hiding in. But all of it was muffled by the blood rush in my ears. I did my best to ignore the choking feeling which resulted in completely shutting myself away from the outer world.

"They are gone," the girl announced out of blue, pulling me out of my own world. She exhaled in relief and opened the door. Or at least tried to.

"What's wrong," I asked, not liking the rawness of my voice. The girl thankfully didn't register it as she was too busy smashing the door.

"Something is blocking-" she didn't finish as she slammed into the wall too hard, making it sway and then-

Boom.

Both of us fell down while still inside that metallic box. What's worse, we fell _on_ the doors. Which meant we had like... 20% of getting away on our own.

Damn, this was so bad.

So. Fucking. Bad.

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

Ridiculous.

Completly, utterly ridiculous.

What have I done to get this?! No, it's not the fact that I wanted to ditch Asano and karma was making me pay for it. Hah. How funny, 'karma making Karma pay'. Just fucking wonderful. I have never been more amused. Now, someone, _get us the fuck out_.

No matter how much I attempted to roll this thing on one side and then get out, it just didn't go at all. The rectangular shape and its width compared to length made it near to impossible to move it from the inside. Not to mention we were technically lying right now. It was a bit uncomfortable to lie on something hard on your side and even more so when there was another human on your right.

"Oi, Asano!" I barked, annoyed by the fact that until now he has done and said nothing. "What about you help me a bit?"

He said nothing again. It was hard to see in this darkness - if only he had given me back that game! We would at least have some source of light.

When I, however, looked at his face properly, all the anger disappeared, replaced by slight worry tingling in my stomach.

The class president's face gave off the feeling of being in distress with his eyes shut, fists clenched and although it was barely noticeable, he seemed to be struggling to breathe.

"Hey," I shook his shoulder, using a mocking voice. "Don't tell me you are claustrophobic."

The boy snickered, forcing his eyes open: "W-What do you take me for."

His voice was shaking. I could hear it so well and indeed, he gave off the impression of suffocating.

"Nice try, but you sound like you are having a meltdown." I tried to joke but the latter didn't react much. Which didn't indicate anything good.

"I'm perfectly fine," Asano denied again, slamming the doors a few times to prove his point. His punches were weak though. And his fingers trembling. That's when I realized just how troublesome or serious this could get, dropping the sarcasm and mockery.

I sighed and started thinking of all possible outcomes. Either we would somehow get out of here by ourselves (which I doubted with Asano scared shitless) or we would have to rely on someone's help. That meant call for it or wait until morning or who knows how long. None of that was pleasant.

Back to the idiot, he didn't look (or rather sound, it was hard to see) very good. I tried calling him a few times but he was either lost in his own thoughts or the gasps were drowning out my voice.

It's not like I was worried or anything, alright? It's just that if the class pres died on me here, it would trouble me a lot. And I most certainly didn't want to deal with a corpse this close to me and... wait. Now that I thought about it, we were really close. We were like four inches away from each other in this small closet. So close I felt his heavy breathing on my face. The smell of mint. The scent of lavender on his skin. So Asano liked the lavender shampoo? It suited him, the royal violet of his eyes and the strong and yet gentle fragrance of lavender. For some reason, really liked i-

No, I did **not.**

God, why was my face so hot.

"Asano-kun, calm the heck down," I put a hand on his cheek to get his attention, realizing how clammy and cold it was. Damn, this was worse than I thought.

He tried to protest but at this point, it looked more like hyperventilation to me.

"Hey, slow down your breathing, you are going to be dizzy," okay, I admit that it was starting to concern me.

The strawberry blond was about to snap something but within a second, I recognized hopelessness and resignation in his eyes.

"I'm already dizzy," he clutched his head. "I'm sick."

Gulping, I tried to remember everything I ever read about phobias or panic attacks. Not much but it should at least prevent him from going crazy.

"Asano-kun, I need you to control your breathing," I said with a serious tone.

The boy made a strange sound, something between a sarcastic snort and a cry of frustration: "I'm _trying._ Have been for-" gasps for air stopped him. "the past five minutes. I _know_ what I'm supposed to do."

If it weren't for the fact that he was practically having a panic attack, I would retort something not so nice back. But I just couldn't seem to find any will to do that, seeing his vulnerability. The more so when this person here was supposed to be the invincible, perfect student.

I don't know what drove me to do it. I don't know if I was even thinking straight anymore. But when I reached out my hand for his and squeezed it in a reassuring way, it felt like the best thing I could do for him.

"What-" he shot me a confused look but I didn't let him say anything. My face was already burning as it were, I didn't need any more reason to be embarrassed.

"J-Just take it easy, okay?" I stuttered while trying to escape those curious eyes of his. "I'm only reminding you that you aren't alone. So... don't give in to the fear." The last part came out silently.

The latter had a strange look on his face, his lips curving up so slightly it was barely visible. He closed his eyes and concentrated but he didn't seem to make much progress.

I remembered what mothers usually did to help their children relax. Awkward as it was, I found myself itching to do it.

Reluctantly, I put my free hand on his head and started stroking it, gently, slowly as if the person in front of me was a newborn baby. It didn't feel out of place nor forced, I don't know how exactly it felt or what the hell I was thinking, but the fact that Asano didn't say anything and that his face stopped wrinkling in despair encouraged me to continue.

I ignored the strangely warm and comfortable feeling in my chest and the burning of my cheeks, only focusing on helping the boy out. I watched his face and noticed some things. Like that he was damn handsome. His eyelashes were long, longer than most of girls' making him look like a doll. Skin seemingly smooth and his lips... oh those full lips - a touch of pink, slightly opened to reveal perfect white teeth.

I needed help.

Anyway, the idiot stayed quiet, not moving an inch. But I noticed that that the pace of his breathing decelerated and so did the strong hold on my hand. He was calming down.

Maybe too much.

"Asano-kun?" I called out sheepishly _(SINCE WHEN AM I SHEEPISH?!)_ , not wanting to believe that he fell asleep.

But he did. And I think that it was better this way, he wouldn't have to suffer because of the phobia and I wouldn't have to suffer from embarrassment.

And the sight strawberry blond sleeping wasn't so bad _(WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING LIKE WTF?!)_

* * *

 **Bonus:**

The chairman was in search of two people.

His son.

And his son's crush.

Much to his surprise, he found the place where they should have been cleaning abandoned with one broom broken into two laying on the floor. So he proceeded to look for them, slightly enraged and ready to give them a long lecture.

After an hour, he reached the basement to find a fallen metal closet where sports equipment was put. Sighing, he headed towards it with the intention of returning it to its place but the unexpected weight struck him.

It took him a few minutes to finally move the thing to discover two of his students sleeping there.

Asano Gakushuu and Akabane Karma.

Both of them nodded off, facing each other and holding hands. Miss Akabane had her left arm around the boy's neck, looking as though she was holding him in a passionate hug. The strawberry blond never looked more peaceful than in the intimate presence of this redhead whose face didn't have any sign of being troubled at all.

The chairman stood there for a while, processing the sight with all the anger dissipating and then taking his phone out while making thousands of photos. Then he wiped off the nosebleed, wondering whether he should lock them up himself somewhere some other time.

You know.

For the sake of shipping material ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Ah guys I'm sorry for the late update, I'm srsly having an author's block and this chapter is honestly kind of weird and no sense making and it's actually a rubbish and I'm not saying this out of habit but because I seriously think it isn't good :/ Sorry, it's past 1 a.m. here so I won't be answering your reviews, I just want to thank you for being so supportive :) I will do my best to include lots of fluff between them so be patient!**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

"Asano-kun, don't you think you should go to a psychologist? You know, that claustrophobia of yours is pretty serious." I said lazily while lying on the strawberry blond's desk. It was only yesterday when we got stuck in the equipment locker and then somehow got out. I don't know when nor thanks to what/whom and although I was glad, it really creeped me out because

1/ I found myself soundly sleeping next to Asano while holding hands

2/ someone must have seen us

3/ we don't know who

Either way, we never mentioned it again and had no intention to. Despite that, I couldn't help but be curious and maybe just a tiny bit concerned about the irrational fear the boy harbored towards tight and dark places.

"I don't want you to break down on me again, you know. It's a pain," I proclaimed with a bit of mockery in my voice, wondering whether I was trying to convince myself or him that I didn't actually care.

The person in front of me, however, didn't utter a single word, keeping his head low instead and pretending to be reading a book. He wasn't, it was obvious since he didn't move his eyes, only fixed them to one place. Besides, he was holding it upside down.

"Or should I tell someone? The chairman for ex-"

He violently shut the book, cutting me off.

I raised an eyebrow at that, trying to see what kind of expression he was wearing.

"That's none of your business, Akabane," He hissed, his bangs blocking my view to his face. He was probably getting really pissed off.

Could be fun.

"But Asano-kun, I'm just sooo worried. Did something happen that you would like to talk about?" I pursed my lips with a pitiful look on.

He tried to ignore it but his shoulders were slightly shaking and fists clenched. Indeed, Second-place-kun was a good toy to kill time with.

"Or should I hold your hand when we are in an elevator too?" Using a playful tone, I jokingly offered and grabbed his hand to emphasize the "worry" I was displaying. The moment I touched his hand however and perceived its warmth, something in my stomach moved and I would have most probably freaked out if it weren't for Asano being faster.

"T-THERE IS NO NEED TO!" He shouted, or rather squeeled (because his voice literally jumped up two octaves), his face as red as my hair. The latter was gasping with bewildered eyes and as he abruptly stood up, the chair fell backwards with a loud _thud._

It was now that it came to me that the whole time he wasn't pissed off - he was embarrassed. And that flustered face of his right now was...

 _Cute_

I never knew Asano had such colorful expressions. Let alone such a lovely tint on his cheeks. It made me want to see it more times. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I found it adorable or anything, I just thought it would be amusing.

And with that, the plan for the day was settled:

Let's have Asano-kun make more flustered faces.

* * *

I thought it would be easy but it seems our little scaredy cat was mentally quite stable. I mean, I tried all kinds of things to get him to react at least half as much as in the morning but just couldn't seem to be capable of doing so.

Firstly I wrote pretty things into his textbook before the lesson. When he opened it, he didn't even bat an eye, only put it back to his bag and... took another one.

Like does he have copies of all the textbooks?!

The next attempt was to embarrass him in front of his friends. After having put many inappropriate photos into his bag (don't ask), I inconspicuously pushed one of his used to be virtuosos friends who bumped into Asano which resulted in the bag falling and revealing the photos :)

As surprised as he was, he didn't make such a big scene out of it as I expected. He sighed and started talking about this being most probably a 'prank' by _someone_ (yes, he knew it was me). And since the perfect student was perfect, everyone believed him and no longer questioned it.

So I thought I would make it a bit bigger. I 'accidently' spilled my strawberry milk on his pants (crotch to be precise). He gave me a fed up and irritated look but peacefully went off to the toilet, taking off his jacket and holding it in the front to cover the stain. I knew he would change right away, that's why I sprinkled a bit of itching powder and drew smiles on his spare pants in advance. (Come on, I was the queen of pranks and mischief + I stole some of Koro-sensei's secret techniques)

The closest to my desired result though was a faint blush and a slight sprint back to the bathroom when he noticed that. But at least I got to see his uncomfortable and frantic face when he was fighting the urge to scratch his butt.

...

I wondered why I was willing to go so far just for one of his expressions.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

I would have killed her.

Right after the photos incident, I would have thrown a desk at her and wouldn't have to deal with this constant... torment.

But I couldn't. Even after four hours, I still felt the touch of her hand on mine, the soft skin, the warm sensation and _damn it._ I felt weird even looking at her.

Though I would really appreicate it if she stopped making my school life hell. Seriously, why was she so hyped today? It used to be one prank for one day or maybe two days but now? What was this supposed to mean?!

Anyway, fifth period was up - P.E. Although the lesson has already started, I was currently going back to my classroom because the teacher left his keys in the cupboard and needed them. And I was the most reliable one, of course. Either way, it was fine - I didn't have to deal with Akabane. Though I don't remember seeing her on the lesson. She was probably ditching, that deliquent of a girl.

Arriving to the destination, I opened the doors and headed towards the cupboard for-

 **NO, I FUckiNg DId NoT BECaUse AKABANE WaS cuRRENtlY StandING tHeRe hALF NakED,§!"¨§/§(!"'?!**

My head was so messed up my mind automatically switched to the poker-face and outta-it mode. That usually happened when I was shocked enough to withdraw into my own world and let the 'autopilot' take over, the thoughts getting brutally honest.

The girl had a look of utter horror on her face, stopping midway in unbuttoning her shirt. She had a pair of blue P.E. shorts on but the upper half - well, let's say she only needed two more buttons to be completly exposed. I assumed she was trying to change for the lesson, only choosing a bad place and me choosing a bad timing to come in.

What however surprised me the most was the size of her chest. It was only now that I noticed their size. Usually, the black jacket would cover most of her body and I never really cared in the first place but now that I saw them, I realized that she actually had a chest.

And that it was big.

In fact, it was only now that I realized that Karma was a _girl._

A good minute of awkward silence and hurricane of thoughts passed I still stood there, looking at her with a poker face. The redhead came to senses sooner than me and threw something at me, yelling at me to go away and stop looking. She also called me a pervert.

I just stepped back from the doors and closed them, trying to get my head working again. Something in there must have snapped and my brain probably overloaded itself or something because it took me good five minutes to remember that my face was covered in something that Akabane threw at me and that-

it was her skirt-

Yeah, you know what, today was just too much for me I don't even _ughh..._

* * *

Third person's P.O.V.

To explain what has just happened, let's go a little bit back in time.

After continuous failures, a certain redhead got lost in her thoughts and forgot that she had to change for her next lesson P.E. When she was left in the classroom alone, she remembered the fact and was so much in hurry she didn't even bother going to the changing rooms since there was no one to see her.

And so, she quickly took of her skirt, pulled on the shorts and started changing the top. While doing that, her mind raced from one prank to another with only one aim - to make Asano Gakushuu, her rival and maybe something more (which she doesn't know yet, but we and the chairman do) - flustered. She just wished to enjoy that face of embarrassement once again (how sweet).

Suddenly, a sound of doors opening interrupted her thoughts. No, it stopped them. It stopped her planning proccess, her movements and her rational thinking. Because the person she was occupied with stood right there, staring at her with a neutral face and scanning her whole body, her bare chest included.

Now, let's make on thing clear.

Karma never blanked out.

She always had words to retort back, attacks to return and solutions to problems. She knew what to do and never failed to take an action.

But this once.

She was blank.

The girl didn't even know how much time has passed but when she came to, blood rushed to her head and she pitched the nearest thing to her which was her skirt at him, hoping to drown out her feelings with her scream.

Of course it did not work.

The boy silently hid behind the doors but Karma felt no better. In fact, the silence and lack of movement or reaction left her so frustrated and embarrassed she wanted to die. He had seen her. **He. Had. Seen. Her.**

The girl probably didn't realize it, but this was most probably karma for what she had done to the poor Asano that day.

So kids, don't be mean.

And never change in the classroom.

You never now who will come in.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello guys, I'm soo sorry for the late update, I was having a break and now I'm finally back! It really makes me happy that you guys enjoy this fanfic though to be honest, I was running out of ideas. BUT! THIS CHAPTER WILL BE BETTER, I SWEAR! SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME AND DON'T DROP THIS, OK? I SWEAR IT'S GONNA BE WORHT IT!**

 **THANK YOU ALL, SEE YA!**

* * *

""Miss Akabane, do you want something to eat?" A kind sounding voice asked, accompanied by a smile. And since it was the Chairman who made that smile, it was a sly one. A very sly one indeed, and Karma noticed that.

"No, thank you." she carefully answered, her eyes scanning the man standing in the kitchen.

"What about a drink?" he was persistent, he and his dangerous grin. Little did she know that the Asano meant it well.

"Akabane, let's go," the strawberry blond standing just behind the girl interrupted his father, beckoning the redhead to follow him. Although she didn't like being lead, especially by him, she complied anyway in order to get away from the awkward atmosphere with the Chairman.

As if being in the Asano residence wasn't awkward enough.

How did this happen?

Let's assume there wasn't an ulterior motive of a certain father who shipped his son and his son's alleged crush.

Gakuho, the homeroom teacher of class 1-A gave out a homework or rather a project that had to be done in pairs. He put names of his students into a box and randomly picked two names which then made a team. And fate wanted it for Akabane Karma and Asano Gakushuu to be together.

Though in reality the fate is being manipulated by Asano Sr.

Anyway, here they were - two rivals in one room, alone, and supposed to work together.

Yeah, this definitely wasn't going to end up catastrophically.

"Ah, such a pain." The girl proclaimed, sweeping her fringe away from her eyes and then messing it even more in frustration. Gakushuu caught himself glaring, thinking how she could look cute even with her hair like-

no, Akabane wasn't cute.

"I'm not happy either," he proclaimed (although we all know better), taking out his laptop (which already had its history deleted because of a certain incident with Gakuho involving menstrual cycle) and sitting down on his single chair by the table.

It was then that he realized that the girl was still standing, her eyes running from his place and away as if she were nervous. Which she was not. Not at all. Not because of the fact that this was her first time in a boy's room, alone with a boy and that the boy was Asano Gakushuu. She dismissed it as hatred towards the guy.

"Oh, sorry," the strawberry blond processed that he occupied the only seat in the room and stood up as well. But where were they supposed to sit and start the work?

Glancing around the quite spacious room, the only solution seemed to be the bed. Because going downstairs for another chair was out of question (Gakuho's current domain), this room had only one and the teen was too much of a minimalist to actually have anything else than a bed, working table and a single closet, he sighed in defeat.

Taking the laptop, he silently walked to the bed and beckoned the girl to follow him. Karma felt a bit warm in the cheeks but didn't mention that or anything about the butterflies in her stomach while sitting goddamn close to him since she also needed to see the screen.

Screw the chairman.

"Are we starting or what?" she asked as the boy was still absent-mindedly staring at the keyboard, giving the impression of having been immersed into his own inner world.

Gakushuu slightly shook his head and cleared his throat, doing his best to hide the embarrassment and he nodded, finally focusing on the task at hand.

* * *

Gakuho's P.O.V.

Perfect.

The food I made was perfect.

It looked perfect, it smelled perfect and it was perfect for making the two teenagers break the ice and get together.

I spent one hour cooking it and didn't even need to try and taste it becauuseee daaaamn, I was soo good at everything and I never made mistakes in cooking or anything else, so yeah, perfect!

I brought two dishes to my son's room with a smile (for some reason I got a wary look from the redheaded girl) and then left without a word, pleasantly surprised by the cooperation both of them displayed. Though once in a while, I heard Gakushuu snap and tell Karma to focus or to "stop complaining like a kid" or to "not burn his room down". No idea what he meant but he sounded happy so I let them be.

One hour passed and I was reading a book when I got hungry and decided to try out the meal I had made. It indeed tasted wonderful but... what was this faint smell of alcohol? It was barely noticeable but my sharp senses could never be hoodwinked. Horrified, I searched through all of the ingredients I used to find out that instead of vinegar, as I initially thought, I used vodka.

WHAT WAS VODKA DOING IN THE VINEGAR BOTTLE?!

Anyway, the realization hit me real hard. I used lots of it. Enough to get two teenagers drunk beyond help. And as that thought flashed through my mind, mad laughter was heard from upper stairs and I heard something fall.

To be honest, I was worried that the two of them lost it thanks to the alcohol and tried to kill each other.

Anyway, I slowly and quietly (so that they wouldn't hear me if it was just my imagination going wild) cracked the doors open to see-

the both of them comfortable sprawled out on the bed and the laptop on the ground. It wasn't broken, thankfully. But the two plates I gave them were clean and the kids were read as tomatoes, sitting real close to each other and swaying like swings. They didn't notice me.

"Ahahaha, youuu'r not half thaat baad!" my son suddenly proclaimed as he struggled to keep himself upright.

"Oooh reeeallyyy? You ain't either!" the girl chocked out while holding her stomach.

The boy smiled and looked deeply into her eyes: "Ya know, Karma, franklyy, yar laugh sounds like heaven t'meee~"

Miss Akabane giggled at that and pinched his cheek: "Ya tryin' to flirt with me? No good, no good. Watch and learn:" and with the second hand she took his chin with her arm: "Nee, Gakushuu~ was your father a thief? Cuz' someone stole the stars and put them into your eyes."

I suppressed the need to say this was like one of the most clichéd pick up lines ever but 1/ they were drunk and 2/ this was so damn sweet. Also, I needed to get a camera.

My son blushed hard but did not disappoint me. He took the redhead's hand into his and got unbelievably near: "Nah, but he's one hell of a demon and I can be one too once we are in a bed."

I dismissed the demon thing and even the dirty joke as ehm... let's face it, this was enough to trigger a nosebleed.

His crush however wasn't that weak it seems. She gained control again and this time pushed him on the bed, hovering over him with a sly grin: "Oh but we are in a bed," and then added so much of sugar into her voice it would make people get diabetes: "And I can treat you like my homework: Slam you on the table and do you all night long."

Yeah, I needed an ambulance.

"I'm feeling a little bit off today, but you definitely turned me on," he replied and I just think I got anemic from the blood loss.

"You're so hot I could roast my meat on you, honey," the girl continued and soon, this became a war of pick up lines.

"Are you a vampire? Coz you look thirsty when you look at me," my son attacked.

"I'm not a vampire, but your body is 75% water, and I am thirsty."

"Your shirt has to go, but you can stay."

"Aaand? What are you doing tonight beside me?" the redhead purred.

"No idea, but you know, sweetie, my lips won't just kiss themselves," and then when the girl laughed, he added: "That's a nice smile. It'd look better if it was all you were wearing."

At this point, I was on the brink of death but the way this conversation was heading really made me alarmed, fearing that they would really make out. Right now. Because they were already sixteen and they were drunk teenagers with a crush on each other and I was recording this and I DON'T WANT TO SHOW MY KIDS AND GRANDKIDS PORN?!

Fortunately, that made both of them snap and the girl fell on Gakushuu's chest with a mad laughter, accompanied by the strawberry blonde's, and they just held their stomach and hysterically cried.

"You are suuch a filter~" Karma suddenly proclaimed and I thought I misheard the last word wrong because I was pretty sure she meant "flirter" and not "filter". A filter was the last thing the two of them knew of right now.

The boy blinked in confusion: "Filter?"

"Yeaaah! Filter! Ya know that... that guy who always pick up girls and oh wait, that's..." she groaned as if the vocabulary section of her brain was shut down. Which it probably was.

"U know what, you are a filter. Cooouuz you make everything soo pretty like those filters in instagram and shit and you're pretty pretty and so... u get me?" she finally mummled and rolled over from his chest to his side.

"Aye, got it, got it!" he chuckled. "And ya know, you should be myy- uuuugh what was it again?" he stopped for a bit, gazing to the ceiling blankly and probably trying to remember whatever it was that he wanted to say. Then he gasped and looked at the redhead, eyes full of excitement: "Oh, I know - ya could be my... grill friend?" And he laughed again as if he just cracked the best joke. I was pretty sure he wanted to say girlfriend but just stood there amazed at what just a bit of alcohol was capable of.

Miss Akabane looked as puzzled as Gakushuu just a while ago: "Grillfrieend? What's that?"

My son stopped his outburst and looked at her for a really long time: "Uugh, dunnoo, it just came to ma mind. Maybe like the friend you grill with?"

And another wave of laughter resounded the whole room.

Miss Akabane nodded frantically as if it were the biggest and most interesting thing in the world, hitting Gakushuu's back four times: "Hahahaha, sure, imma be your grill friend!" and then: "What re we gonna grill? Wheen? I want barbecueeee!"

The boy did not answer, only laugh. So the girl frowned, hitting his back more: "Wheeen are we grilling? I wanna eat barbecuee! Asaanooooo~ Bar-be-cue!"

And soon, those kids got tired of all this innocent-intended, dirty talk and fell asleep. I was glad because the blood pool in front of the doors just wasn't going to clean itself.

I just hoped they wouldn't remember anything after because this was just way too much for my health.

* * *

 **Most of the pick up lines were from: pickup-lines net**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone, Satsuki's here.**

 **I know. I disappeared without a word for so long- but now I'm back. The thing is, many things happened and I got a little bit, well, bad, and things happened and I ended up bad and ugh. I'm sorry. I don't really want to talk about this but I am really sorry for abandoning you and I hope you guys will forgive me.**

 **I will do my best to update my stories, so please be patient.**

 **Thank you.**

* * *

Third P.O.V.

Asano had absolutely no recollection of what happened that day at his place, where they were supposed to work on a project, but he knew it wasn't anything good.

He and Akabane woke up at half past seven p.m., sprawled atop each other and with everything they were working with on the ground. He didn't know what happened. He had absolutely no idea.

 ** _And it terrified him._**

He still remembered looking around, telling himself that Gakuho most likely didn't come in and see them (oh thank god), because the two dirty dishes were still on his table.

He, very carefully, got out of the bed.

For a while, the strawberry blond just stood there, clutching his head and looking for anything at all that could tell him _what the hell has happened._ Did they just fall asleep? Then why couldn't he recall anything? Why did he have this strange feeling?

The boy checked himself but found nothing out of ordinary, his clothes still fine, not hurt at all, and the same went for Akabane.

Maybe she would know.

Maybe she tried to poison him or something...

Asano shook his head - No, why would she also be sleeping here then? If she could, she would have poisoned him, tortured him or anyhow cause him distress while madly laughing and videotaping it. Or she would have made blackmail material and flee from there. Or at least so the boy assumed.

Talking of which, the girl started to stir. Her eyes soon opened and she sat up groggily. It took her a while for her to get back to reality but when she did, she frowned, her gaze darting from one place to another at the speed of light.

"What the hell?" her voice was full of confusion and - quite obviously - threat.

The strawberry blonde felt anything but calm. So Akabane didn't have anything to do with this. Then who? Or what? More importantly, he had to somehow save his neck and explain. But how could he do it if he himself was completely out of it?

"Apparently we fell asleep," he said with a neutral face, a very usual mask of his, though inside, he was panicking.

"Fell asleep..." the girl glared and, just as the boy, started checking herself, coming into the conclusion that hopefully, nothing... bad occurred.

"Why don't I remember anything?"

"Good question."

They both stayed quiet, feeling extremely uncomfortable and awkward. The redhaired girl knew way too well that Asano was puzzled as well. Also, he was that perfect role model so she was very much sure he didn't have his fingers in this. She searched for any clues and her gaze settled on the two dishes.

Before they could carry on being even more awkward, someone knocked on the doors. Then, Asano Gakuho showed up, his expression completely innocent (despite the fact we all know what he did).

"Oh, sorry for interrupting but it has been very quiet for the last two hours so I came to check," the man's smile didn't waver. In fact, it was so flawless even his son didn't notice anything.

"Everything is fine," Asano assured him and mentally made a thankful note that in those two hours they indeed only _slept._

"Oh, alright," the chairman nodded and immediately retreated, somewhat expecting that the two teenagers wouldn't remember a thing after getting that drunk. Either way, he still had his video which he could use later.

Gakushuu sighed in defeat, still clutching his head - it hurt a little bit, but that was quite normal. He wasn't used to naps and usually if he slept more than five hours a day, his head would be killing him (blame it on the fact that he didn't have much time for sleep).

And almost the same went for the girl.

He didn't notice though that the redhead had stood up and walked towards him. Instead of saying anything though, she picked up one of the dishes and spent a minute staring at it.

"Alcohol," she finally whispered and realized what might have been the cause.

"Excuse me?" the boy seemed extremely shocked.

"The meal your father made must have contained a small bit of alcohol, which would explain the reason both of us fell asleep so easily," Karma gritted her teeth, kicking herself for not noticing earlier.

Either way, both of them got more or less calmer, although the embarrassing fact that the two of them slept on the same bed was still painfully there.

They decided to never ever talk about it.

* * *

Meanwhile, the board principal was backing up all the material and adding it into the _Karushuu_ folder.

* * *

This incident was soon forgotten and the two students were back to bickering and hating each other just like any other day. Lately though, Asano noted, the girl has been suspiciously calm. Or rather, she hasn't made a single prank in two weeks. What was even stranger, she looked very occupied every time he glanced at the girl.

Gakushuu wondered if there was something going on but then, today, he saw her make a somewhat amused grin, so he supposed that disaster was coming. He only hoped it didn't have anything do to with him.

He couldn't be more wrong.

Suddenly his phone vibrated - probably a notification from social media. He took it out and to his surprise, there was a message from the devil herself.

 _From: Akabane Shitty Karma_  
 _Subject: Favour_  
 _Text: Hey Asano buy me some condoms._

The boy blinked twice and reread the sentence seven times to understand _what the hell he was just asked to do._ Alright, that was one hell of an unexpected request. He couldn't even think of a good and witty comeback, instead just stood there dumbfounded staring at that text message.

"Okay, _what?_ " he mumbled and replied:

 _To: Akabane Shitty Karma_  
 _Subject: re:Favour_  
 _Text: What the hell?!_

And within half a minute, he got an answer.

 _Just do it._

Fucking no. And why did she even need them? Come on!

 _No way in hell. Buy them yourself._

He already wanted to shove the phone into his bag and ignore any more texts but Akabane was just too freaking fast at replying, not to mention the weird twisting in his guts telling him to find out more. How stupid, that girl's... activities were none of his problems.

 _Nah, too embarrassing. Go and buy it, you are a guy. Also, I still have the photos from four days ago. I wonder how your father would react after seeing it._

Oh someone kill that girl. She wasn't serious, was she? He made sure to delete the photos right away - and don't ask what this was about, because he was _not_ letting anyone find out about it... Let's just say that it involved him, skirts and wax (nothing dirty, thank you).

Either way, he hacked her phone. He hacked into her computer, he took her USB and _deleted everything._ So there was absolutely no way!

 _You are bluffing. I made sure to dispose of all evidence._ \- he typed incredibly fast but then waited for half a minute so that it wouldn't appear as though he was panicking so much.

 _How naive, you think I only had it on my phone, computer and USB? I have backups of everything I ever take, several of them and on sever places. Now go buy the condoms or the photos isn't the only thing your everyone is going to see._

As the young Asano read the message, he was literally a word away from punching the nearest wall and screaming into the world that Akabane is the biggest dipshit ever. He wasn't sure whether she would really do it, he never was for that matter, but risking it was not an option. It was the redheaded devil we were talking about after all.

He already typed _"fuck you"_ but remembering the context and the reason he was telling her this, he immediately deleted it in embarrassment and wrote _"damn you"_.

This was going to be painful.

* * *

Just to be clear, he didn't want to be recognized.

Might be the reason behind his blue contact lenses, messy hairstyle, very informal, casual clothes (ripped jeans, sport jacket) and a hoodie partly covering his face.

He almost looked like a different person, though the strawberry blonde locks were a bit of a giveaway.

Yes, this was awfully humiliating. He had never, _ever_ in his lifetime felt this way and he _never_ thought he would have to even worry about... this.

For god's sake, why couldn't he just die?

He slowly crept towards the store, his head very low so that no one saw him. He made sure to pick a shop that was quite far away from his home and school, one that held the smallest probability that he would meet anyone familiar there. Yet he carefully kept an eye on anyone who went by.

And while he was looking out for any potential danger, a very alarming red colour attracted his attention. He subtly turned towards it and for a good minute, he stopped breathing. There was the goddamned Akabane girl, standing and leaning on a tree with a nintendo and a lollipop.

First came shock at seeing her so carefree and kind of innocent looking. She wasn't wearing her usual black blazer which gave her the dangerous vibe, instead, there was a dark shirt and a light purple jacket. Her long hair was braided into a simple fishbraid that was left on her left shoulder and Gakushuu couldn't help thinking that she looked so goddamn sweet like that.

He kicked himself.

Then anger struck him. How dare she chill in there so cheerfully while _he_ was suffering?! Oh, he wasn't letting her off the hook now. Not when he had her in front of him, unaware of his presence.

Pacing towards her, he resisted the cold smile but immediately failed, when managed to get near enough to punch her. Though he couldn't do that. Were she a boy though, he would.

"Hello, Akabane Karma," he hissed, punching the tree with his palm. Usually, the girls in his school who read shoujo manga called it _kabe don_ but he had a feeling that was done in a romantic context. The situation he was in _now_ was _murderous, gruesome, threatening -_ simply anything but romantic.

He was sure his gaze showed all those feelings and indeed, with that dangerous look he had right now, he wouldn't be surprised if the girl fell into catatonic shock.

Instead, the redhead sighed in annoyance, lazily looking up and saying: "What do you want, Asano-kun?"

Okay, that took him aback.

He was disguised. Incognito. Absolutely out of character.

"Well?" she raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know it's me?" the boy frowned, for a while forgetting about the fact that everyone else might get the wrong idea.

Karma rolled her eyes: "I can see the contact lenses, your clothes are too neatly ironed for a normal deliquent and your hair is still the same pinky colour as ever, although the messy style looks really hot. Ignore that. Also, you still smell like leva- nevermind that," she cut herself off, not really wanting to blush when they were so close... and gosh, they were _so close._

"Fine, whatever," he admitted defeat, though the staring contests haven't finished yet.

"So what do you want? And hurry up, I'm in the middle of a game. Oh, or have you perhaps already bought what I asked for?" The girl smirked smugly, waiting to see the boy's flustered face. Little did she know that the boy had different plans.

"Not really, but soon, _both of us_ will. Now if you excuse me," he took her hand and started pulling her back towards the street.

The girl, however, wasn't letting herself get dragged and she set herself free from his clutches, now holding his wrist. She quickly searched through her pockets, taking out a certain metal object and attaching it on him.

"What the- HANDCUFFS?!" he yelled when he noticed the cold thing on his skin and immediately realized what she was trying to do - handcuff him to the tree. However, he hasn't been doing martial arts just for nothing and fought to gain control of the second part.

"LET GO!" Akabane seethed, struggling to get the other part of the manacles on a strong branch nearby. Despite having trained so much with Koro-sensei and her class, she knew that the Asano himself was very skilled as well and, frankly, since he was a male, he had an advantage in terms of strength.

That's how she ended up bound to him.

"Are you fucking kidding me," the redhead sent the boy a bloodthirsty stare.

"That's what I should be asking! Why the hell do you have handcuffs?!" Gakushuu exhaled sharply, tired from the battle of control just a while ago.

"I always have my tools with me, in case I get assaulted by creepy people like you!"

"Assaulted?! _You wanted to strap me to a tree!"_

" _You grabbed me!_ _"_

"I SAID WE WERE GOING TO BUY THE CONDOMS TOGETHER, AS YOU WISHED!"

A few people turned around, eyeing the two teenagers in horror.

And those two said teenagers froze in horror.

"They heard us," Karma whispered.

"They heard us," the boy nodded, not even daring to turn around.

"Why don't we just... flee," she muttered, face as red as her hair.

"Good idea,"

And the two of them silently, inconspicuously walked out of there, not even once looking up from the ground.

When they were far enough from the previous place, they stopped and focused on another problem.

"I don't have the keys," the girl confessed, earning herself a disturbed expression from the other one.

"You wanted to handcuff me to the tree _without a key?!"_

"Not really," she said, not sure whether it was a lie or not. Most probably not. Maybe.

Suddenly, Asano's eyes lit up as an idea entered his mind: "Well, whatever, this is actually in my favour. You wanted to buy the condoms? Let's go buy the condoms."

And with that, he went to the store, slightly more enthusiastic than before. He had to do it anyway, but now they were bound to each other and if he had to go through this hell, she would as well.

"No way in hell," the girl started panicking, digging her heels into the ground to stop his attempt to drag her there.

"Oh come on, go with me and I will set us free. I can pick locks," he smugly offered.

"And you think I can't? Unfortunately, this one isn't possible to pick. I modified it,"

"Whatever, let's go," he then pulled the girl towards the shop. Or least he was attempting to.

Karma dug her heels into the ground in order to not be dragged. However, in about ten minutes, they ended up going anyway.

But now that Asano thought about it, this wasn't such a good idea.

Having a girl handcuffed to you while buying condoms most certainly did not look good.

"Satisfied?" The redhead was furious, her face hidden by her bangs.

"I should be the one complaining!" The council president growled, "Just let me die."

Then realized that they have been standing in this particular section for far too long: "Quickly take something and let's go!"

"No, you take them!"

"I don't know which kind you... want. Or like. Ugh, just please kill me. Now. I don't know, hit me in the head or something."

"I'd love to but then I'd be handcuffed to a corpse which isn't very convenient!"

And while they were bickering, a passerby shop assistant saw them, hearing a fraction of their conversation. He assumed they were dating and that they decided to take a big step forward and so, being the kind soul he was, the assistant decided to help them.

"Excuse me, but if you'd like, I'd recommend you these-" he picked up a blue box and gave it to the pair.

Both Akabane and Asano looked extremely mortified to have been noticed and addressed by another person.

Flustered, they both shook their heads: "N-N-NO, WE-"

"It's alright, you don't have to be shy. At this age, it's completely normal." The man assured them.

The teenagers were dying of embarrassment too much to even answer that.

"Oh, there are also flavors. Strawberry is very popular, so is banana flavour. Which one does the lady prefer? There's also melon and limited edition - dark chocolate. Here," he put all of them in Karma's hands and the girl was seconds away from passing out.

"Also, sir, you need to choose the right size. Small, regular or large. There are also extra large ones, but I wouldn't say you need those. (You see, it takes only one glance to see an extra large)," The man showed them all the sorts of brands and sizes and flavours and...

"Do you want me to show you how to put them on? It's very important. Wait, I'll take a banana and show you right aw-"

"NONONONONO!" A loud shriek was heard that neither of the two ever thought they could make. But this was way too much to manage with a cool face.

"Really? I mean, schools don't really teach the kids sexual education so I thought you might need-"

"Thank you very much, but we uhm, we will take these and we will be fine. Goodbye!" The redhaired girl grabbed the first thing saw and ran to the checkout in the speed of light. Her classmate gladly followed her. Not that he had much of a choice with those bonds.

It was safe to say that those two were so red that even the tomato would be jealous.

Karma put the box on the counter, nudging Asano that it was his turn. Poor boy, he was already so out of it that he just obligated, not having enough energy and doubting he would be able to preserve his sanity if he were to enter into another fight with the girl.

The cashier eyed both of them curiously, when he saw their purchase, and then told them the price. The strawberry blonde took out money from his pockets and then caught a glimpse from the man behind the counter.

He nodded towards the girl who was facing the other way, trying to catch her breath: "Lucky you, she's cute,"

That was the last straw.

Gakushuu switched into auto-pilot, smiled, thanked and then together with Karma went out of the shop.

They found the nearest lawn and crashed into it.

They laid there face down for two hours.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello guys! I might be late but this chapter is reaaaaallyy long and I think you will like it so please enjoy! I will do my best to update soon so please stay patient! I looove you so much, thank you for the support :)**

 **Well, till the next time, see ya!**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

"Shitty Asano, it's cold."

Oh wow, _no shit, Sherlock._

"I know it's cold."

Considering the fact we both were still lying motionless in the grass in this goddamned downpour... I'd be surprised if we didn't get sick after this (just kidding, I'm too strong for that).

"Maybe we could get up," she suggested, raising her head tiredly.

I myself didn't have enough energy to retort how freaking _smart_ that was of her so I just _ugh_ ed and we both sat up. After the condom buying thing in the shop, we had a small breakdown so yeah, we needed some time to... whatever, erase the memory? Despite our efforts, we were painfully aware of the fact that the handcuffs were still on.

"Give me a bobby pin or something, I'm gonna open it," I sighed, reaching out my hand.

The redhead rolled her eyes: "I told you, you can't pick it, I _myself_ modified it. No one, not even you, _wanna be Ace-kun_ , can open it without a key."

I wanted to retort that we actually tied in the last exams but that girl just would have none of it anyway. That's why I only cocked my head in confidence, hand still reached. The girl however frowned in disgust but said nothing, only sighing and taking out her- oh my god, did she really have a picking tool bag with her?!

Either way, she gave me a few things, a challenging (or mocking? hard to say, what's the difference anyway) glint in her eyes. She was so sure of her work it made me feel more like the only purpose to opening the lock was to prove her wrong, not so that we could be free and at least fifty kilometers away from each other.

Which seems won't happen any time soon.

I did my best. I truly did. To be honest, picking locks was nothing new to me (don't ask why). It never took longer than thirty seconds to get into a locker or anything of that sort, handcuffs shouldn't have been any harder. Yet there was something inside that prevented me from moving the mechanism.

"You done?" Karma was still beaming with her usual mischief and smugness though there was evident annoyance in her voice.

Just as much as me, she wanted to get rid of those as soon as possible.

"What have you done," I glared at her murderously, still unable to comprehend she intended to chain me to a tree _without a fucking key._

"Stop glaring at me like that," the redhead rolled her eyes, standing up and yanking me in process. "I can try going home and search for the key but I doubt I will find one. Lost it about two months ago."

"You are unbelievable," it came out as a grunt but I made sure it reached her ears. "Preposterous. Harebrained- Inconceivably _thick_."

"Thank you very much, we'd apparently make a perfect match," she shot back without a hesitation and I was so pissed off I didn't even care what she implied.

"Why did you even need that... thing?! What the hell, you should have bought it yourself, no need to inform me of your sexual life!" This time, I was careful not to be too loud.

The horror on Akabane's face was slightly funny but again, I was angry. The girl seemed to have been flustered, a pink tint on her cheeks: "No, no, no, no, you misunderstand. I didn't- I mean, yes, but not for... _that_. I- ugh - look, I just wanted you to have some fun and I could use it for a prank, because the rubber is really, really resistant and firm."

I was ready to kill.

"That's it? You wanted me to suffer from this embarrassment?" Really, homicide didn't sound so bad.

The girl grinned a bit and I decided not to address that problem anymore, knowing that if we did, I'd be snapping necks. A girl or not, I'd fucking kill her.

Either way, after probably seven minutes, I found out why she was playing games in this place. It seems that her house was in this part of the town (thankfully the completely opposite direction of mine). Surprisingly, her home was quite big for normal standards but in comparison to mine, well, it was still lacking in many aspects. First of all, the interiors were near to empty, only essential furniture and possessions present. Our living room, on the other hand, was full of trophies, medals, with a somewhat tolerable extravagancy. This place was dark, untouched and most of all - cold.

Literally, I got chills standing there.

"What are you staring at? Come on," Karma tugged her hand and let me upstairs into her room which, not so shockingly, completely defied the appearance of the rest of the house. There were papers all around, scattered, some even ripped, books on the desk, on her bed (which by the way was bigger than mine and yet very simple). I took a proper look and noticed that all of that was studying material, mostly math and science.

"Sorry for the mess, I hope you don't get an attack or something,"

Her sudden remark left me puzzled: "What?"

"Dunno, thought being the cleanfreak you are, this much could make your heart stop or something. Oh wait, you don't have that organ. Oh well," the goddamned delinquent shrugged innocently as if she were just talking about food or something. Her carefree and disdainful attitude really made me goddamned mad.

"I'm not a cleanfreak," I firmly stated.

Karma didn't even bat an eye: "Yeah right, Mr. Cleaning-my-locker-thrice-a-week-and-washing-PE-clothes-every-second-day."

I chose not to comment on how she knew that, defending myself instead: "That's completely normal,"

A snort escaped her lips: "What about your habit of polishing your desk?"

"Absolutely understandable,"

"And disinfecting your textbooks?"

"Humans are full of germs, the average number of bacteria on the human hand is about 300 000, therefore textbooks, which are a subject of everyday use, contain countless possibly dange-"

She didn't even let me finish it, waving her hands abruptly and interrupting me: "Okay, okay, stop you madman, you are hurting my sense of chaos,"

I rolled my eyes: "I am not responsible for your inability to maintain order,"

"That's not the problem. Your OCD and mysophobia is," the redhead grinned mischievously, daring me to deny it. I was about to because I seriously didn't suffer from any case of OCD or mysophobia, I only liked having everything perfect. However, none of that was said since she reminded me of the fact that we were here to find a key, not to get into a full-blown war.

"Well then, let's do this," Akabane exhaled agonizingly, bending down to pick up all the papers from the floor. I did the same and found myself feeling much better cleaning up this dumping ground she called her bedroom.

While doing so, I only rarely looked at what I was picking up. They were either math notes, some books and literature and here and there pencil sketches. Which were by the way quite good. That's why I didn't understand why most of them were either ripped in half or defaced.

"You draw?" I asked since the silence was becoming a bit too unbearable. The girl however seemed used to it, her expression blank and focused on her work.

It seemed as though she completely forgot my presence (how though, we were _handcuffed_ ) because her head shot up in alert and loosened up upon realizing it was still me.

"Yeah, helps me... wind down, I guess," she answered slowly, probably being careful of what all to tell me.

I took one particularly nice and detailed work, a picture of an old wooden building on a place quite isolate yet the way she drew it gave it a soothing nostalgic feeling. The angle was a little bit to the right so there were some hints of a dense forest on a steep hill.

Or maybe a mountain?

"Is that the former E-class' building?"

I think I saw her wince at the word _former_.

"It's still ours, you know," she snapped sharply, stopping in whatever she was doing. "We bought it off and the class still takes care of it."

Obviously, I touched a sensitive matter, so my tone softened, making sure I showed I had no desire to get into another argument: "Yes, I know. I just meant that it's no longer used."

Akabane was aware of that of course and she cooled down quickly, doing something extremely disturbing. Apologizing.

"Sorry, I just..." she tried to find the words, glancing to her left, while I sat on the floor aghast at her sudden politeness.

"Well anyway, yes, that's the E-class' building. I was... bored lately, so I went there and," she gestured with her hands weirdly. "it just happened."

I looked at the drawing again, noticing the gentleness of each move. One couldn't have captured something so deeply simply out of boredom. This showed nostalgy. Sadness. Yearning. It was subtle but undeniably there, her connection to the place and the love she harbored towards the old times. Taking into consideration the fact that it has already been almost one year since the graduation, that love must have been very strong.

For the first time, I didn't even feel up to making fun for her sentimentality.

"It's really beautiful," was the only thing I could say before returning it to her and watching her nod in appreciation, tucking the paper into a very, very, very thick book lying under her desk.

No kidding though, the book must have had more than 1000 pages.

"What's that?" I crawled closer towards it, hoping to get a proper look. Turns out there were two more, almost the same thickness, only of different colour of cover - yellow and brown.

Karma looked like she wanted to hide it but since I have already seen it, she just gave up: "It's a gift from Kor- our teacher."

That made me curious: "That Koro-sensei guy?"

"That Koro-sensei guy."

"You realize you never told me about him? Even though after I covered for your class at the bus you promised you would."

"I didn't promise that. I never promise."

"Okay, but you said you don't mind."

My classmate _(ugh)_ rolled her eyes: "Didn't you want to find the key?"

"What's the chances of us finding it? And don't change the subject."

"0,08% but let's be optimistic,"

"I will be optimistic and say 0%. Better think of a backup plan. Meanwhile, do tell me more about that year with the alien teacher of yours."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I will have no other option than to leave it be."

That answer was surely not what she expected, seeing that her fierce stare dropped, getting replaced by... I don't know. Reading feelings has never been a problem to me since that is essential in manipulating people, but once it came to Akabane, it became all complicated. That girl was like a storm, too unpredictable, each of her expressions a whirl of more than one single emotion. Frankly, it posed as a challenge but also a mystery, one that I found too mesmerizing to let go.

Forget what I just said.

Akabane bit her lip, sighing in defeat. She gazed at the three books, protectively running a hand through the blue one she was holding. Then her head returned to my level: "Fine, but I will be brief."

Accepting so, I waited for her to start.

"You already know the basic things, right? He threatened to destroy the world by march and the only way to prevent that from happening was to kill him. He insisted on teaching the E-class of Kununigaoka where all the students would be free to assassinate him yet none of them would be harmed."

"Yeah, that's the official version," I nodded.

"Indeed, that's the official version."

"But I want to hear how it really was," at that, I earned myself a glare that clearly said _shut up and listen._ The girl, however, didn't retort anything back and continued:

"The truth was, however, a little bit different. Koro-sensei used to be an assassin, they experimented on him and that's how he got the form he had. He was dying and he decided to spend the rest of his life with the class that the woman who had sacrificed herself for him and whom he loved, taught. He wanted to make them - us - accept ourselves, to find who we are and to survive in this world. That's what was happening. He taught us. Not only school stuff, but also... everything."

I devoured each of her words, realizing that the reason she spoke so silently and slowly was not her being careful (or maybe yeah, but not so much), but afraid. It seemed as though she felt guilty, regretful as well. While I understood her diffidence to speak about something so personal, my desire to know was greater. Despite that, I made it clear that I had no ill intention.

"Okay, and how did he do it? I mean, your whole class drastically improved in an ungodly speed."

Akabane sighed once again, though a grin appeared on her lips: "Always thinking of studying, aren't you, Second-place-kun?"

I only shrugged.

"Alright, alright. Look, he could move at mach 20, what would you expect? Before exams, he would move so quickly it would appear as though there were clones and he'd focus on each of us individually. There was one time he had a naruto headband especially for Terasaka, that guy is just too stupid," she chuckled fondly upon remembering that. "Yeah, and he wrote tests, all of them somewhat different to bring out our best. That guy was so dedicated you wouldn't believe it."

"He was also so serious about his teacher image, despite the fact he was a real pervy. Seriously, how could he expect us to take him seriously with all that crying and his boobs obsession?"

Koro-sensei was starting to sound like a case for a mental hospital, but whatever, Karma was smiling.

She talked about that octopus for five more minutes, her facial expressions too sweet for her normal delinquency and the tone of her voice too innocent and calm to believe she was so uptight just a while ago. I could see that this teacher had a great influence on her life, not only from the scores on tests but also her behavior. She was so much more... well, surely not mature because she still loved to prank people (me), but there was ambition in her eyes and the resolution to reach it.

"What was he to you?" I asked without even thinking it through and the redhead stopped for a while, her eyes wide.

There was a melancholic yet grateful glint in her face and she smiled gently, looking at the books: "A teacher. Target. Friend. And a parent that I have never had."

Looks like I wasn't the only one growing up with a good for nothing family.

"Were your parents also like... you know, cruel and all that?" was that sympathy talking or me?

Akabane shook her head, an indifferent mask on her face: "No. Just never there."

The air was heavy for the next few minutes when none of us knew what to say. Then my classmate stood up, making me follow her in process.

"I never knew if Koro-sensei was a mother or a dad. Honestly, he was a bit of both. Fretting too much and all you know," she tried to lighten the mood up, dusting herself and looking around the room. "Well anyway, what do we do? Apparently, I have no key. And neither of us can pick this lock."

"Yeah, isn't that great?" I sarcastically remarked, rolling my eyes. "Just whose idea was it to handcuff us together? Oh wait- _yours!_ "

"Shut up, you are the one who did it."

"You pulled them out and wanted to-"

"Can we please stop talking about that?! It's not gonna change the fact that we are still bound together! Now use that brain of yours and think of a solution because I'm starting to feel the nature call!" She threw her arms (arm) into the air.

"Oh shit, me too."

Frankly, I have needed to go to the toilet for at least ten minutes now.

We both face-palmed at this horrible situation.

Then, an idea struck me. Well, not that it was the brightest idea and I was most certainly going to regret doing it, but I was desperate.

"There is someone who can pick locks. All of them. He can literally do anything," my description of that person must have been too obvious because Akabane frowned.

"You can't be serious," she snapped.

"He's our only hope," I had a point. She knew I had a point so she hesitated for a while and then resigned.

"Fine, let's ask your father," she finally accepted, the irritation obvious. I guess she still didn't get over that tyrannic era of his.

Neither have I, anyway: "It's not like I'm eager to do this, but we have no other choice."

And with that, we walked to my place.

* * *

The walk was not peaceful. Of course. I am usually a very calm and composed person, never letting any of my negative emotions show. But this girl- this girl was just too freaking understandable. She just loved to mock me and tease me, and she loved it even more when I snapped. Alright, I wasn't the most patient person but still, she was just too much.

Other than that, both of us needed to pee by now and the handcuffs were _still fucking on._

Thank god, we finally arrived at my mansion. Not loosing a second, we headed straight in and to the living room where my father currently sat with a book.

"Asa- Gakushuu-kun," the man widened his eyes as he saw that I had a company. "And miss Akabane?"

"Hello, used-to-be-principal, sorry to bother but-"

Before she could even finish, I raised our hands, an incredibly irritated look on my face.

"Get rid of this," the tone of my voice was dangerously low and the chairman also heard that. He tried to stifle a laugh, only eyeing us questioningly. He walked to his room and then came back with a bag, various picking tools inside. Did seriously everyone own one such thing?

Anyway, the silence helped me calm down. My father was working on the lock, now and then making an approving sound. After a while, the lock clicked and we were FINALLY free.

"Now if you excuse me," Karma stood up in a second, "I'm going to use your bathroom."

We showed her which way it was and she ran, leaving us here alone.

The man eyed me amusingly and at last spoke up: "So, what were you doing with miss Akabane? I imagine it was-"

"Father, please do not imagine. You imagination strays a lot from what has actually occurred. It was an accident. That's all."

For a long while of staring, he shrugged and let it be. Thank god the chairman has never been the talkative one.

After Akabane, I ran off to take care of my own need and then returned back to find her chatting with my father. They seemed shockingly okay, though I had no hopes it would last longer than another five minutes.

"Well, it's getting late. I better make dinner," my father suddenly announced, standing up from his spot.

The redhaired girl did the same: "Yeah, I should be going back. Thank you for the help, sir," she smiled.

At that, the image of her empty house reappeared before my eyes. I don't know why I did it or how it could even get out of my lips, but it somehow did.

"Wait," I called out and she turned back.

This was painful, but hell, I have suffered enough today. Just a little bit more shouldn't be such a problem: "Y-you can stay for dinner," I glanced at my father, "if it isn't a problem."

"Of course not," the chairman made a _I knew it_ face which made me want to scrub it off with a sandpaper.

The delinquent girl was taken aback for a while, blinking twice to process what I have just said.

"No, it's alright, I can-"

"You would be alone there, no? And I bet you are gonna buy some convenience food or something since you can't cook, not good for health," I made a teasing grin to provoke her.

She took the bait: "Please, I am quite confident in my cooking skills,"

"Oh really? Show me, because I frankly don't believe you a word."

"You want a contest? You have it,"

And with that, we spent the evening cooking with Akabane. Involved banning my father from the kitchen and a lot of shouting.

But it wasn't so bad, actually.

How stupid...


	11. Chapter 11

**ALRIGHT GUYS HERE IT IS.**

 **THE NEXT CHAPTER**

 **Delayed, but longer! I won't be saying much, it's quite late now and I need to catch up on sleep T.T Anyway, thank you a lot for your patience and love :) Swear to write more chapters soon, for now please bear with me!**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

Ever since Karma stayed over for dinner the last time, it has become a little costume of ours to dine together when possible (which was quite often because she literally had _nothing_ else to do. Or anyone else to be with, for that matter.)

Strange?

Yes.

I found it extremely strange, maybe even disturbing. We were supposed to be rivals, enemies - throat to throat after all. And there she was, sitting next to me at the table and carefreely talking to my father.

Of course, it was my father who started inviting her over. She herself was quite hesitant, but he made it clear that he didn't mind (neither did I but hey, I couldn't say that). The first few times, that half an hour with the three of us was suffering - awkward, silent and absolutely unnatural.

About weeks later I got used to her presence and talked to my father about the usual stuff. School, activities, the sports and instruments, the things I have to do for the council. Karma used to be so awkward she would stay quiet and only eat, but lately she, as well, was getting comfortable, quite oftenly retorting sarcastic comments and rolling her eyes at my achievements.

Yeah, and she was actually _extremely_ experienced at the kitchen. I lost the bet we made.

Even the chairman _praised_ her. Like. really. Praised her. The monster chairman who had standards higher than the fucking Mt. Everest. Yeah, he stroked that ego of Akabane's which now grew bigger than this whole world could bear.

But that girl was damn impressing.

That's also why she took my place in the kitchen, not only cooking with my father, but also learning new recipes from him. Most of the times I was not even allowed there, which at first extremely offended me. Now though, I only sit at the table, thinking what the hell was happening.

No, seriously, what the hell.

It's not like there were any problems. She was actually a great guest, cheerful and when needed (when the chairman was watching) quite polite. The thing was - How, for the love of god, could it occur to me that I felt relaxed in her presence? This was wrong, after all. I was supposed to hate her for being the complete oposite of people I value - rash, rude, the deliquent with temper. And she was supposed to hate me for being the- how did she say it - _boring, egoistic nerd._ Yet I found myself smiling quite often when she sat next to me.

And despite my brain screaming at me that this was ridiculous, denying the feelings I had was impossible.

I felt happy.

Was that normal?

That question I have been asking myself for the past two weeks. And now. I was too occupied to even notice that the teacher was speaking. When I did, however, it was too late, because he was already walking out of the classroom.

Unfortunately for me, all my previous friends (the 5 virtuosos) have all gone to different high schools so I couldn't casually ask anyone about what I have missed. The others were no option to me since I was their ruler and it was a huge no for them to know I was not paying attention. I was supposed to be their role model after all.

So that left only one person who wouldn't give or have any shit about me being somewhat superior. Because she absolutely did not believe it and made it clear that she didn't. From her way of speaking for example.

"Ace-kun, don't you think you're slacking? Not listening to the teacher's instructions, ts ts," Karma made a disapproving sound, a mocking glint in her eyes.

"Shut up, what did he say?" I sighed, not even bothering with keeping my act of a flawless charming class president in front of her. She has heard me swear many times anyway (and heard some of my childhood stories from my father. I still remember her teasing me about it for the next whole week).

"We're gonna dissect a kidney, that's all. Just prepare yourself and go get the gloves," she shrugged and then went to take her laboratory coat. It suited her quite a lot actually, she looked very proffesional with the hair pulled into a pony tail and eyes so sharp.

Anyway, we had biology right now. Apparently, today was one of the rare times when we could do something else than just sit and write seven pages at least and then memorize them. Instead, we had the chance to truly verify all the things we have been told.

In other words, laboratory work.

Since we were now doing the human body, the excretory system paritculary, we could have a look inside one of the organs - the kidneys.

We were supposed to do it in groups but I preferred to work alone. This time I couldn't. The teacher brought only five pork kidneys (no idea how he managed to find 5 but not 6 as kidneys are pair organs) and our class consisted of 21 people (usually it's 30 but some weren't present), 4 from them ( all of the being girls) sitting in because the sight would allegedly make them sick. Actually, all the girls were doing the _ew_ sounds. Only Karma seemed fine. Or maybe even excited.

Back to the topic - only 17 of us were actually working. Our classmates were already seperated into four groups, each consisting of 3 people, the last two students were to do this together.

Guess who were those two.

Yes, it was me.

And yes, it was Akabane.

Don't get the wrong idea, I was not an outcast but the complete oppposite. I was very popular, very often the topic of girls (who thought I couldn't hear it but well) and the sport idol among my male classmates. They all admired me but I didn't try to become anything more than just classmates with them, rather focusing on the superior-inferior relationship (don't act surprised). So it kind of made me unreachable.

Akabane on the other hand was infamous for her... everything. I don't think there's any need to explain.

Just.

 _Akabane._

"If possible, please do not mess around with the scalpels, the working material or any of the organs that I have," I told her the moment we stood next to each other, ready to start with the disection.

The redhead rolled her eyes and made a disappointed grunt: "And there go all the plans from A to Z,"

I actually snickered.

...

There was something _very_ wrong with me.

Anyway, the lesson went on. We were told to cut the kidney into half.

That's when the first problem emerged.

"I'm cutting it," Karma declared but I stopped her immediately, refusing to let her do that.

"No, I am. You can just stand back and look."

"I don't want to,"

"It's disgusting anyway, won't you feel sick?"

"I have had things worse than pork kidneys in my hands and I wasn't even wearing gloves. Do you think _this_ will make me sick?" she said it with such a straight face I froze for a while, horrified by the sudden image of her holding human intestines in her bare hands.

"I meant animal organs and body parts. Many recipes require dirty work as well, you know?" she explained upon seeing my expression.

"Obviously," I cleared my throat, not really up to arguying with her about this anymore. "Just do it already,"

And she smirked in satisfaction, taking the scalpel and gently yet cleanly cutting it in half.

"This stinks so bad," the girls mutters while concentrating on her work and I come closer to get hit by the stench as well.

"Oh my god," it's impossible to fight off the grimace forming on my face. I turn away to deeply inhale, hold my breath and turn back once again.

"You might have noticed the unpleasant odor by now. Can someone tell me the cause?" The teacher asked and I was about to answer but my partner was quicker:

"Because that's where the pee goes,"

The whole class laughs and I would as well if it weren't against my principles.

She was basically right though so the teacher couldn't do anything about it. He only formulated the sentence into a more proffesional way.

The next few minutes we were given a speech about the its function, the _how-_ s, _why-_ s and so on. Just the usual stuff. I however found human biology quite fascinating. This and math were probably the only subjects that I genuinely cared about, I didn't feel the pressure or the usual obligation to study it. I just liked the way everything worked. It just amazed me how perfect some things could be and how some could be so imperfect. And the reasons why they were lacking. And what could be done to improve it.

Once the teacher finished talking, I snapped out of the admiration transe and noticed I was being stared at by Karma. She was slightly smiling, not the normal mocking way but somewhat gentle.

"What," squinting my eyes in suspicion, I asked the girl.

She must have realized only then that I was saw her and she jerked her head away from me and quickly blurted out: "Nothing,"

So I let it be, knowing there was no point trying to figure out what was going on in that insane head of hers.

Next we were supposed to cut off small pieces of each section and then have a look at it under the microscope. This time the redhead left it to me.

"I wonder what we will do with the remains once we are done," Karma suddenly breathed behind my neck and I almost jumped in surprise.

"Throw them away, what else," I quickly calmed down and returned my attention to what I was doing before.

"But that's such a waste, all those kidneys could make a dinner for ten people at least."

At that, I had to stop: "Dinner?"

"Yes, I know some good recipes for kidneys. Might not be all that tasty to some but I'm pretty confident in my skills," she cockily announced but I had a different thing going on in my head than her egocentrism.

And that was-

"You can eat kidneys?!"

It's pretty much a shock to me because I have never ever eaten them (and I have tried many things already). Also, to think that something so stinky like this could be downed without having the urge to throw up...

Karma blinked twice at me and immediately started laughing like a madman. Or madwoman. Whatever, she just laughed in that mad way with tears building up in her eyes. You know what I mean.

"You didn't know that?!" she wheezed while hitting the table with her hand. Which was actually quite disgusting considering our gloves were covered in blood.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, I admitted that, indeed, I was not aware of that information.

"Wait, wait, wait- seriously? You never knew? Your father or whoever cooks at your place hasn't cooked kidneys?"

"No," she stared at me with eyes wide, "How can you even eat it if it stinks so much? Isn't it weird since, as you have perfectly said, _it's where the pee goes?_ "

About five minutes of laughter later, she explained the way you can cook the organ and how to get rid of the stench.

I considered that she was pulling my leg but her lecture seemed too serious and when I thought about it, it did make sense. But still... people eat kidneys?!

"If you want to try, I can make them today," she offered without even thinking about it. Actually, none of us even thought about the fact that she was now dinning with us.

Either way, I chose to ignore that question, not sure whether kidneys were really something I had apetit for.

The lesson ended way too quickly for my liking. Biology was also our last period so after taking off the bloody messy gloves, cleaning up the lab and packing our things, we could go home.

(The smelly working material was put into a bag and the teacher said he would give it to his dogs, by the way)

As per usual, about four girls came to me and asked me if I could help them with their studies. And I, as their ruler and the student council president, had no other option than to say yes and smile.

One of them, quite popular as well, went extremely close and whispered in my ear:

"Asano-kun, are you free this evening, by the way? I wanted to show you something... if that is alright with you?"

When she pulled away from me, she smiled at me gently and to be honest, I found that smile very beautiful. She was indeed pretty, her long wavy hair braided on one side, her light make up emphasizing her already nice eyes and full lips. Her name was Hanabi-san, rated twelveth in this whole school.

Maybe taking up her offer wouldn't be so bad. I have been studying non stop for too long anyway and having some fun wouldn't hurt.

I already wanted to accept but a loud voice interrupted me:

"Hey Asano! You want the kidneys for dinner or not? I need to know and buy them before hand!" Karma appeared on the second end of the hall, where the lab was.

She didn't seem to mind that I was in the middle of... something.

How absolutely rude.

But that didn't mean her question was stupid, I found it actually quite nice from her. And I did want to try that strange organ out.

"Sure, you gonna cook them today?" I shouted back.

"Yeah, but I need to buy them. Don't have money with me though,"

Whilst speaking to her, I forgot that I had a company.

Which of course reminded itself in the worse way possible: "Asano-kun... do you and Akabane-san... perhaps-"

It was then that I realized that I: 1/ fucked up the offer thing with Hanabi-san and 2/ just caused a huge misunderstanding.

"No, no, of course not. She just-" and I stopped because it was only when I wanted to say it outloud that it struck me this was absolutely scandalous. I mean, both me and Karma have gotten used to this routine so much we didn't even think about it or considered it somewhat strange.

The others, however...

"Come with me, I don't have my wallet. You always do, don't you?" The redhead walked straight towards us and she grabbed me, oblivious of the fact that those girls were there first.

"Hey, hey, where do you think you are taking him!" another girl, Ayashi-san stops Karma in her tracks, frowning.

"Buying food, of course. What do you want, anyway?"

"Asano-kun was going to help us study, isn't that right?" Her expression switches from furious to bright in the matter of seconds, since she's talking now with me.

Nodding, I acknowledge that: "They are right, Akabane, you should-"

"Study?" the redhead however didn't even try to pretend she was listening to me, "if you need to study, there's one thing - you probably haven't heard of it yet - called _textbook_. It's pretty useful honestly and much less distracting than mr. ODC here,"

I had to supress the urge to laugh so I immediately focused on something else.

"For the last time, I do not have any case of OCD,"

" _Of course,_ " she said sarcastically and it pissed me off.

"Do you even know what it means? OCD doesn't mean perfectionism and wanting everything to be clean,"

"I know exactly what OCD is and it fits you anyway,"

"Yeah I actually do feel like setting you on fire right now,"

We were bickering so much that the four girls (I had once again forgotten about) made sour and disappointed faces. They said if tomorrow or any day later would be better and I guiltily (not really) apologized and promised to make it up to them, which of course made them happy again.

Though when they were leaving, they sent nasty looks to Karma.

I'd think that she interrupted our conversation and forced me to go grocery shopping with her on purpose, but there was no reason for her to so I abandoned that thought and assumed she was just being the selfish ass she was.

But I couldn't help wonder. Right now, Karma was bend down and looking at the sortament, deep in thought. It was strange but seeing her like this evocated serenity and something pleasant in my guts which didn't even seem disturbing anymore. It felt familiar and warm. Like being with someone you like.

No wait wait wait waitnonono what the hell did I just say.

I tried to remember Habani-san's smile today. That's the nice feeling when you are interested in a girl, right? The one when she gave me a bright smile. Isn't that right?

Yet when I compared Hanabi-san or any other girl for that matter and what they made me feel like when smiling, to the feeling I had right now, I got more confused. It was only Akabane choosing between things after all. Akabane staring at something with her beautiful golden orbs, her lips pursed and the red hair resting on her shoulders, now and then falling down from them when she moved.

And I wondered- when has she become so beautiful?

"You're staring, got something to say?" the girl suddenly stated and I almost jumped out of my skin. I didn't even realize that I was looking at her for so long.

Trying to play it cool, I asked about what has been occupying my mind the whole way here: "Can you tell me why exactly you ambushed me?"

The redhead didn't even glance at me: "We need to buy this I don't have money with me. I know you're slow but I'm sure you can figure it out."

And I did, when she put ten carton box of strawberry milk in the basket.

"So that you'd get your strawberry milk?"

"Bingo,"

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

I could do this.

We went to the checkout and it struck me that no, I couldn't do this.

"Hello- Oh! You are the pair from the last time!" the man sitting behind the counter greeted us. And recognized us. No idea how since I was incognito.

When we were buying the... condoms.

"Shit," I heard Karma mutter and indeed - _shit._

"So how is it going, huh? Getting laid is fun, don't ya think?" and he smirked at me, mouthing _damn hot_.

I was done.

* * *

 **SO AM I AHHAHAHAAH XDDD**

 **Sorry.**

 **Btw... Asano is perhaaapssss... figuring out his feeeeelinnngsss ~~~~~**


	12. Chapter 12

**HELLO THERE! I think the process of updating this chapter got somehow interrupted/stopped and it didn't load properly. I didn't notice then but later when I looked at the "updated" section, it still showed the old date. So for sure, I updated this again.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is pretty long for my standards XDDD Almost 3000 words and I'm glad I managed to write this down! I had this idea in my head for a while now but didn't know how to put it down and what to expect from it. There isn't much plot in here, just feelings, FLUFF, FLUFF AND FLUFF. I hope you guys like it :)**

* * *

Third Person's P.O.V.

"It's finally winter, isn't it?" Karma absent mindedly whispered to herself, looking up the sky. Snow flakes were starting to fall down and they landed on her cheeks, nose, hair - some melting, some staying there the way they were, beautiful white decoratation to her flaming red hair.

She was standing in front of the school building, though her her mind was wandering somewhere else. That's why she had not registered the strawberry blonde standing at the gates gazing at her.

Asano didn't say anything nor did he make any effort to get noticed. He just leaned on the frame, knowing that there was no student left at school (it was about six already, all the classes have ended long ago and he and Akabane were the only ones staying behind to study). Therefore, he was not worried about anyone seeing _him_ lost in the scenery in front.

He wasn't thinking anything particular.

They were actually both going to his place today and she was only waiting for him. Strange, right? But it has been more than months since the start of the school and since they started coming over (yes, when Gakushuu wanted to take a break from his home, he'd go to Karma). And the teenagers knew very well that they weren't just enemies now. They were friends.

Bickering, pretending to hate each other, but friends.

It felt strange.

"Well, how long do you intend to stare at me?" the redhead finally broke away from the sky, locking her eyes with his.

The boy sighed, walking down the stairs towards her: "I thought it would be rude to disturb you since you seemed to be so deep in thought,"

Karma narrowed her eyes: "How considerate of you - aren't you by any chance sick? Delirious?"

"Maybe," he deeply inhaled the fresh cold air, cocking his head backwards to find out what exactly it was that she saw.

There wasn't much. Just a cloudy, hostile sky. He couldn't understand what managed to keep Akabane's attention for so long or what could have managed to make her expression become so gentle.

"Wait, what?" her voice suddenly ringed through his head.

Confused by the question, he couldn't think of anything better than: "What?"

"Did you just admit you're sick? Oh snap, that must be really bad, taking your stubborness into account."

He chose to ignore the part with stubborness because it was actually true.

"Not sick," he simply declared.

"Really," the girl frowned. "Coz you know what, you do actually look bad."

"Wow thanks," Asano rolled his eyes but when the girl didn't stop boring holes into him, he admitted: "I'm just a bit tired,"

But instead of listening to him, Karma focused on something else: "Is that make-up I see-"

And she quickly smeared off a little bit of something skin-coloured off the under-eye part of his face.

A bit roughly though.

"OUCH WHAT THE F-" Asano shrieked in pain, having the feeling of getting poked in the eye.

"You use make-up," Karma exhaled in shock.

"No, I don't and you almost rid me of my eyesight,"

"Not important. You use make-up?!" she repeated again, a very smug grin forming on her face. "Oh my god, this is hilarious, this is worth five blackmail photos,"

"Again, Akabane, I do not use make up."

"No, not five. Seven,"

"That's a concealor, you goddamned dipsh-"

"Maybe eight. Damn, once I combine this information with everything I've got on you, it's going to be so fun-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, AKABANE, I DON'T USE MAKE UP, I JUST NEEDED TO COVER UP THE DARK CIRCLES UNDER MY EYES!" the student-council president snapped at last, making the girl drop all her jests.

Karma titled her head to one side, the amber orbs slightly dangerous: "Dark circles?"

Well, there goes one Asano's secret.

Leave it to her - the one and only person capable of making him lose it and speak- no, _yell_ before thinking.

He made the most exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples: "Yes, dark circles. Haven't had good sleep in a while. By the way, let's go, the chairman is waiting,"

"Oh yeah, right," they both started walking.

The redhead however wasn't so quick to drop this subject: "Is it because of all the exams they gave us the last two weeks? I knew it must have been _very_ hard for you to keep up, but to the point you had to sacrifice sleep?"

Obviously, she was being sarcastic, that little shit. Asano glared at her for a long time and the girl burst out laughing out of sudden.

"Okay, okay, just kidding!" she managed to get out while holding her stomach. After that she quickly calmed down, her expression all serious in a blink of an eye: "Well?"

"Well what," the boy frowned.

"Why circles under eyes? Is all the work and studying wearing you out that much?" The girl asked, looking straight ahead at the way. This time though, her voice was void of any mockery. It might have actually had slight hints of worry in it though even if it indeed had, Gakushuu was too immersed in his agony to notice.

"That's none of your business, Akabane," he snapped, speeding up. Unfortunatelly for him, the redhead didn't fall back.

"C'mon Shuu-chan~ I'm just worried about-"

"Shut up,"

And despite Karma's bad reputation of being impudent and inconsiderate, she understood that digging into this matter wasn't of any use nor good. Instead, she started talking about how boring the school was and soon, they were back to the type of conversation they usally hold.

Her complaining, him pointing out her horrible behaviour.

Her half-heartedly making fun of him, him returning the favour.

And you know, being together wasn't that bad lately.

* * *

It turned out that Asano's mood wasn't caused just by Karma's doing. He was moody and spacing out a lot during the dinner, earning himself some questions about his well being and suspicious looks from his father. Of course, the perfect student didn't let his discomfort show - it was more like the chairman and the redhead were way too observant.

And they knew that Gakushuu was acting.

Fortunately for him, his father had some work to do so he wasn't going to be home until very late. Unfortunately for him, since it was Friday, the girl was free to stay for a bit longer, which she of course did (because her house was boring and she prefered to have someone to mess with).

Currently, both of them were sitting on a sofa in dark and trying to find a film to watch. However, there was nothing interesting in it, so they just put something on for the sake of having some source of sound and light at all.

The living room was pretty cold. The wind was strong outside and it was starting to resemble a smaller version of a storm. The snow was no longer melting nor leaving wet smudges on the window, instead it stayed there and drew frozen pictures on the glass.

Speaking of which, the window might have been opened, because even though the radiator was still on, both felt like freezing. But neither of them bothered to check or do something about it, the chilly air discouraging them from leaving the comfort of the sofa.

"There's actually a blanket in the drawer next to you," the boy remarked, mindlessly pushing buttons on the remote. Still nothing worth seeing.

Karma stretched her whole upper body to take the blanket. It was a bit funny to watch but right now, their survival depended on that single sheet of cloth.

When she finally got it, she realized one thing. It was no bigger than two meters.

She and Asano were sitting the farthest from each other and in order for them _both_ to use it, they'd have to get real close.

Of course, the boy was aware of that too and he sighed in defeat: "Do we have any other choice?"

"Yes, you could go and close the window, get yourself another blanket or take some clothes."

"Not an option,"

And once again, they were met with the awkward silence.

"You know what, screw it," Karma in the end said, staring right into the latter's eyes: "Come here and we share the blanket. Yeah and," she held her finger up in the teacher way, "Just to make sure, it means nothing,"

"Absolutely nothing at all," Gakushuu nodded in agreement.

"Not even a single thing,"

"Not even half of a single thing,"

"Deal," and with that, the teens moved to the middle, wrapped themselves in the blanket, shoulder-to-shoulder.

Of course, initially the contact made them very awkward and they tried to focus on anything else but the fact that they were right next to each other, touching. Karma was now in charge of the TV, making disapproving noises because damn - were there _really_ no interesting films on?

"Akabane, the remote's gonna break," the boy remarked, seeing her continuous clicking in the speed of light.

"But this is so boring,"

"Whatever, just choose something and let it be."

In the end, the only thing they agreed on was a documentary film about snakes.

"That's Nagisa-kun," she whispered, suddenly feeling really good for that reference joke. Not that Gakushuu got it.

It was starting to get dark outside despite it being only something past seven. The teens were now leaning on each other, not really aware of the fact though, and mindlessly watching the TV. Though that was the last thing in their mind.

"So... you're not sleeping fine lately?" Karma finally asked the thing she has been wondering about the whole time. Sure, she was making fun of him, but the fact that he would have to go such lenghts to _appear_ fine concerned her.

"Stop mockin-"

"I'm not mocking you. I'm seriously asking now," she interrupted him, looking straight into the boy's amethyst eyes, "Are you okay?"

The unusual sentiment and honesty from the redhead surprised him. He stayed quiet for some time, not knowing whether he should really talk about this. But the girl was still staring, waiting for an answer.

Since she already knew half of it, no point in trying to hide anything anymore.

"I _am_ fine," he started and immediately felt the distrustful eyes on him, "it's just that I have been focusing on lots of things lately. And sleep wasn't really all that possible anymore."

He got himself another glare: "What do you mean by _lots of things_?"

"Can we please drop this,"

"No," she made a disapproving face, though the corners of her lips were starting to curve up. "So I was right about you not keeping up wi-"

"Would you please-"

"Not a chance. You know what? I actually told you before," Karma rised her head in a self-conceited way.

Sceptical, Gakushuu narrowed his eyes: "Told me what,"

"That you will break down from all the pressure. Studying, school council, after school activities, sports, musical instruments, teaching the eggheads from our and other classes. Dude, you've got no free time!"

Once again, the boy couldn't deny that. Yet he still tried: "I won't break down and I'm managing everything just fine. How do you even know about my schedule?!"

She gave him the _are you serious_ look: "You have it stuck on the wall by your bed. Of course I'd know."

Oh yeah, damn.

"Well anyway," Karma leaned on the sofa, breaking the eye contact, "it's Friday. So you can just chill,"

Was that supposed to be her trying to be _kind_ towards him? Asano couldn't believe it. But he was quite exhausted and being proud and arguying with Akabane right now would take too much of energy.

Hence he as well relaxed into the soft matress and snuggled up in the blanket because seriously, what the hell was wrong with the radiator?! The room was chilly, so much he thought that if he stuck out any part of his body, it would freeze in a matter of minutes. Yet he couldn't say that he himself felt cold at all.

Nor could the redhead say that.

None of them would admit it, but the contact they shared, the presence of one another - it warmed them up more than anything else.

Which brought Asano to the same thing he has been asking for way too long.

"We really got close, didn't we?"

His voice was sluggish and silent, making the question seem more like a statement than a querry.

"Are you being sarcastic,"

"No," the strawberry blonde kept his gaze on the TV.

The girl stayed quiet for a while, and it looked as though she has not heard him or as if she didn't care at all. In fact, she was thinking of what she should say and it didn't go well, because the only thing she could come up with was a denial.

"Your imagination,"

Which of course made the latter slightly offended: "Are _you_ being sarcastic?"

"Maybe," Karma shrugged, her eyes glued to the screen, "But I guess we indeed are getting familiar with each other. Disturbingly so,"

"My words exactly,"

"Though to be honest, I don't mind," the redhead murmured.

And maybe it was the fatigue, maybe it was the fuzziness in his head, maybe he indeed was delirious, but Asano smiled, whispering: "Neither do I,"

* * *

Gakushuu didn't remember anything after that. He knew that he was watching the documentary film with Karma but after that, it was all just a blur and hazy recollection of a faint scent of roses.

He woke up when something touched his arm. Or someone.

The boy's eyes slowly opened, still heavy from sleep. In front of him stood the former chairman himself, his face changing into that of surprise when he saw he had awakened his son. He had returned only a while ago, noticing the two teens snuggled together, fast asleep, with the television was still on. The particulary low temperature striked him as well and he went to inspect the window which - of course - was open. Silly children.

Since he couldn't move them anywhere and waking up those angels (*cough* sarcasm *cough*) would be a sin, he opted for at least making sure they didn't catch a cold, getting them another warmer blanket.

Though he must have been a little careless when he wrapped it around them as the strawberry blonde got startled by the sudden sensation.

"Father," the young boy greeted him, extremely tired. He glanced at the clock. Three a.m.

"Gakushuu-kun," his father then lowered himself into the same eye level as his son, crouching. He smiled gently, ruffling his hair, "I apologize for waking you up. Go back to sleep."

And he almost did but soon realized that there was something on his shoulder. He looked over there and aghast, spotted a certain redhead leaning on him.

"It seems Akabane-san will be sleeping over," Asano senior noticed the confusion on the latter's face, "It's fine, as long as you two don't cause trouble,"

He would have said more but it was quite obvious that the strawberry blonde's attention span was getting shorter and shorted. Every two seconds, he had to blink to keep the eyes open.

The former chairman stood up then, re-adjusting the covers on both children.

"Good night," he whispered and went up his own room to change and go to bed as well.

Meanwhile, the student council president was somewhere in semi-sleep. He was still aware of the particular touch on his left shoulder and when he looked again - she was still there.

Akabane breathing lightly, her head so close to his face. She looked so extremely peaceful and innocent - as if she weren't that deliquent who liked to prank others, as if it were an other person who blackmailed her classmates. It was hard to believe that this person here had any flaws.

Because right at this moment, she looked more beautiful than anyone else. Her long eyelashes, her petite lips, her silky hair - it all seemed to fit so perfectly to her, so much that he couldn't help but stare. Stare for as long as he could.

Various thoughts were whirling in his head. He knew that the redhead wasn't just his rival now. Nor was she just a friend. This relationship they shared was something so delicate yet so strong, something unspoken yet obvious, it was a paradox that should have and could have never happened.

This wasn't how he was supposed to feel towards her.

This wasn't right.

But it was, what it was.

And Gakushuu was painfully aware of that.

Love was merciless.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello guys! I know I'm extremely late but I actually do have a reason for it. My family moved to a new house recently so we had lots of work with cleaning and moving things. In addition, we had no internet! T.T You have no idea how much I suffered in the last month T.T**

 **Anyway, now I am back with an update which is - admitedly - longer than my standard. That of course brings me to a question to you, my dear readers: Do you mind that the chapters are much longer than usual? I am not used to writing such lenghty chapters but 1/ the stories are becoming more and more complex and squeezing all the plot into just 2000 words is impossible, 2/ when I don't update on time, I feel guilty and have the tendency to you know... make it up to you by writing more.**

 **But some people don't like it so I'd rather be sure than sorry. Do please tell me whether you don't like something, I will do my best to improve! AND OF COURSE, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE!**

 **Until next time, _ciao~_**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

I had a weird dream.

It was a normal school day, I don't recall what the weather looked like, nor what time it was and I don't think that's even important, it's just that my sense of perception was absolutely on another level, much sharper, much stronger and my thoughts are so chaotic that I can't help saying too much and not filtering trivias. But the strangest thing of all was that the whole atmosfere felt natural. Even the fact that I was sitting next to Asano instead of my usual last seat in the middle felt natural.

We were talking about something (peacefully, which should have been probably enough for me to realize this wasn't reality), but apart from the fact, the whole classroom was grey, boring and even more disgusting than usual. And then the scenery changed into a field of yellowish flowers. We were sitting on the grass, vast blue sky painted over our heads. There was an incredible feeling of joy in my chest, I could feel myself smiling and I turned at Asano, expecting him to react the same way. But what greeted me was a hateful glare. He promptly stood up and walked away. For some reason, I desperately tried to stop him. The yellow petals, the things resembling tiny suns around us started withering until they were all brown and ugly. And then I noticed that they weren't withering, but burning.

 _That's us_ , he said, voice sharper than a blade, yet painfully regretful.

I woke up with a sharp jerk, my breath heavy. I saw my fingers slightly shake, but couldn't get any sense to them. It was as if I just drowned. Cold. Tired. Paralyzed. And yet, it was just a dream. Confusing, strange, but still a dream. Those were always uncomprehendable and crazy, but this one - it left me wondering what it meant, it left me scared of something - what, that I don't know - but the feeling didn't leave no matter how much I tried.

I started hating yellow flowers since that day.

* * *

The finals were coming and I saw the strawberry blonde less than usual.

Logically speaking, I should have been rejoicing. Finally some time away from that annoying OCD prick, finally getting my precious independence and freedom back after all. It was supposed to be a huge relief.

 _That's us_

It wasn't.

* * *

When I did meet him, it was thursday after school in the library.

Thursday afternoons are rarely beautiful. Actually, no thursdays and none of their parts are ever anything better than _unbearable._ Logically speaking, the reason is that it is the exact part of the week when we are most tired, most fed up with school. It is the day before the long awaited friday after all.

But that was _logically_ speaking.

With the two of us, there was no logic.

While most of our classmates and other students resembled zombies, drained by the upcoming final exams, me and Asano were more pumped up than ever. He, that fucking nerd, showed that by constantly reading, studying hard and not moving from his spot in the library for four hours in row. I, on the other hand, not quite as socially acceptably.

My book has been opened on the same page for about ten minutes now, but I never got past it because the sight in front was too irritating and distractful.

"Hey Asano," I decided to do something about it, absent mindedly swinging on my chair.

The boy did his utmost to ignore me, but hey, am I persistant.

"Hey Asanoo," I called again, this time louder and burning holes into him. Not getting an answer, I tried to get his attention again. And again. And again. Until he couldn't stand it and dramatically sighed: "What,"

He didn't look at me, but I smirked nonetheless, unable to contain the triumph.

"The school year is ending in two weeks," my voice was playful.

"So?"

"I'm going to crush you at the finals,"

At that, the boy looked up from his textbook, his eyebrows rised in curiousity.

"Oh really?"

"That's right," I cocked my head pridefully with a smug face which of course got on the strawberry blonde's nerves. But that was fine. I needed a way to entice him.

And just as expected, his chin was now up as well, looking down at me (or at least trying to, I was better at looking down on people).

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the first spot is mine."

"I wouldn't be so sure,"

"Says the one who has been fooling around most of them time,"

"Maybe I plan to sabotage you by hiding your textbooks and notes, terrorizing you at home and depriving you of sleep,"

The look I got was priceless.

Mixture of disbelief followed by extreme horror that came as he realized that - indeed - I could do that. I knew where the keys were. And even if not, I was good at picking locks. I came over so much that it was starting to damage Asano's health as well, so why not finish him completely?

"Just kidding," I laughed it off with a wave of a hand, not sure whether I was really kidding. But well, that wouldn't be fun, would it?

"I'm going to beat you fair and square, Second-place-kun,"

The strawberry blonde snickered in disdain, though he himself was aware of that competing with me proved to be a real fun and a challenge as well (yes, my ego is on an abrupt rise). I did beat him after all and as we all already know, Asano is a sore loser.

"You can try, but don't cry when you loose,"

" _You_ don't cry, Shuu-chan. But you know what? Why don't we make this more fun?"

I carefully observed his reaction in order to readjust my next steps. But the only thing I got was a slight frown so it was pretty much meaningless.

"Whatever your definition of 'fun' is, I refuse," he sighed.

"Let's make a bet," I didn't back down.

"I don't have time for such stupidities,"

As expected. But don't forget - what am I best at?

Taunting my enemies.

"Oh~ Scared, are we?" I pulled out a glee awfully annoying, because despite Asano suspecting what I was doing (provoking him), it still worked perfectly. He was proud and ambitious, the perfect type to manipulate.

Though I kind of could imagine what was going through his head at the moment. Over the year he has been in _constant_ (oh god why) contact with me, he should already know better than anyone else that making bets or anything of that kind with me of all people was the second most dangerous thing ever. Right after getting involved in my pranks.

Remember that time with condoms?

Yeah.

Exactly.

Asano's silence literally screamed _DANGEROUS. SUICIDAL. NUTS._

However, unbeknown to the strawberry blonde, I didn't have anything bad on my mind this time. It was quite the oppposite.

Okay, I will be honest here. Think what you want, but I am not stupid nor oblivious to the strange feeling of happiness that lately lingered everytime I was with him. Nor did I not suspect that maybe, this feeling could be mutual. Maybe, the times when I caught Asano staring at me with a soft smile (thinking I didn't know, that idiot), eyes so gentle, weren't just my wistful mind playing games on me. Maybe my eyes weren't lying when I thought I saw his cheeks get pink at times. And, dammit, how much I sometimes wished this all meant something more.

It was foolish, really.

We were like water and fire. Day and Night. Silence and Noise. He was what I have always scorned, I was all he has always tried to avoid. He was the perfect student and I was the problematic deliquent. It was the worst match ever, everyone knew, _I_ knew – and that should have been enough for me to stop - but somehow, it was also the very reason I felt so alive with him.

Do I even make sense anymore?

And then we started getting closer and for the first time, I saw him as a human being, as a teenage boy that doesn't like waking up because he slept only two hours, as a boy that feels awkward when he's got the first female friend eating dinner with him and his father, as a boy that gets angry, happy and tired at times. He no longer posed a threat, an unknown force that seemed too unfamiliar, too flawless to me. The view on him stopped being only black and white and I started seeing more colours - the colour of his smiles when we joked around, the colour of his eyes that sometimes stayed on me for too long, the colours I saw and felt when our hands accidently touched.

And all of them were so mesmerizing.

I realized it.

I understood it.

But I was scared.

If indeed all of this was only one sided and he found out - what would he think? What would he do? Laugh? Mock me? Tell everyone in the school in order to pay me back for all the pranks and unpleasant things I have done to him?

Yet I needed a way to confirm. I needed to find a way to either completely forget this feeling or to let myself believe that I still had some chance to hope.

"I bet I will take the first place." I repeated slowly and our eyes met for the longest time possible, him finding an interesting challenge, me searching for an answer.

"And if you don't?" His face shifted into a shit-eating grin.

"I will do whatever you ask of me," I answered and then (for sure) specified: "one thing."

Asano stayed silent for a while, but it was obvious that he liked the proposal. If not for the corners of his lip slightly rising, then it was the sly glint in his eyes.

"Anything I tell you? No matter what it is?"

"Yes, unless it puts me or anyone else in danger. Or wait, I don't care about the others,"

At that, the strawberry blonde rolled his eyes: "Typical. Don't worry, I'm not you."

"Of course not, I'm more fabulous," I retorted back without thinking, "Anyway, it's the same with me. If I win, you do what I tell you."

"That won't happen, don't worry," he snorted and I truly doubted his words.

Because this time, more than ever, I was determined to win. I was going to win this bet and find out whether there was any meaning at all to my stupid thoughts, stupid feelings and stupid desires.

* * *

Third Person's P.O.V.

The finals were up.

Karma's day started well. She didn't have to climb up the walls of the building to get into her class (you see, sometimes she came too late and the gates have already been closed), she had found a pen on the floor, which meant she didn't have to steal Asano's, and she had actually slept. Like really. Karma. Slept. She didn't play games until four a.m., she didn't have to study on the last minute – she was as prepared as never before.

Asano wasn't any different. His mind was clear and alert, he even managed to go through all the subjects in the morning (having woken up at about six a.m.). But what truly motivated him was the sight of his rival sitting on her seat – on time – and smirking as if the whole world belonged to her. It was annoying, really, but at some point he grew so used to it that it became something of a reassurance that – among those simpletons he called classmates, he wasn't alone. And that life might not be so boring with her.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" the redhead asked as soon as she noticed the boy.

"I'd be more concerned about you, Karma," the latter replied with the same obnoxious arrogancy.

And even a blind person would see the flames of fighting spirit around those two students, the dangerous aura slashing throuh the air, yet none of them backing down. It wasn't a new thing, honestly, but it was a whole different level.

Half past two meant the end of exams and although both Karma and Asano were convinced they aced them, they felt like jumping out from the window given the opportunity. Because not only did they play for perfect score, but also for the perfect time. For each exam, these the students were given one hour, but these two? No. They were on a race. What was even funnier – their pace was absolutely the same.

Literature – 46 minutes

Science – 44 minutes

Home Ecs – 38 minutes

English – 39 minutes.

Math – 40 minutes and a table split in two, because the lovebirds (foreshadowing) were so frustrated with the ridiculous coincidence of their speed that they slammed the papersheets on the table. And with the combined strenght of those two, the poor piece of furniture stood no chance.

Now came the hardest part.

Waiting for the results.

* * *

It has been three days and the tension between them grew even more unbearable. Thankfully though, today should be the end of it. At about seven p.m. The ranking list would be online (yes, the school had its own website where news were posted for everyone to see – it saved paper and time).

That didn't change the fact that the powerhouses of class 1-A were on a rampage. During the lessons, it was piercing stares, during breaks full blown wars. And while they were only students, not even the teachers could do anything about such intense rivality. It wasn't even worth mentioning that their classmates were shivering in fear every freaking while.

Unfortunately, their homeroom teacher – Asano Gakuho, who would have also been the only one capable of taming them, wasn't present as he had another important matter out of the town.

And so it went on for the rest of the day. Until-

"A-Asano-san, Akabane-san," A timid looking girl approached them.

The two stopped bickering and waited for the (saviour of this class' sanity and safety) to speak.

"Yes?" the boy immediately switched from the (according to Karma) obnoxious cold hearted fuckboy to a nice, charismatic fuckboy.

His smile managed to put the poor classmate at ease and she finally stopped looking like an animal waiting to get its neck chopped off and then gutted: "Our class wants to celebrate the end of the exams. We will be going to Karaoke tonight. We wondered whether you two would also feel up to it?"

The others hiding behind her nodded in agreement though they were somewhat nervous from interacting with the two superpowers of their class. Fortunately, it wasn't the bad nervousness. Sure, they were scared shitless when they went after each other's neck, but more importantly, they felt respect towards those two. Though for each of them differently – Asano was something like god, while Karma like the demon king (queen).

With everyone looking at them with expectations, it was hard to refuse – especially for the strawberry blonde. He, as the class president, student council president and idol of both girls and boys (athletics- and appereance-wise) had his own duties and those included both being perfect and socializing.

Karma, despite her being infamous from the middle school times, now became a subject of wide speculation as well – not only for the fact that she was the only one on pairs with Asano Gakushuu, but also for her carefree and fun loving personality, which, although until recently used to be a great annoyance, now became an enlightment to their schooldays. Back in the times when all that the teachers and students seeked for were briliant results only, even if it meant sacrificing others and themselves, this trait was frowned upon. But now the school has found out and learnt that having fun and being kind was not a sin.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Asano answered smoothly and the redhead couldn't help but cringe at the fakeness of his voice. Not that anyone apart from her knew. He was just unlucky (lucky) enough to witness his true, demonic side to understand that there was no way in hell nice and Asano could ever be put into the same sentence. At least not if it were here forming it.

When others turned at her for an answer, she sighed and then smugly grinned: "Sure, why not. I will gladly laugh at your loss in front of the whole class,"

And that's how they found themselves sitting on a black, uncomfortable sofa in a huge room full of people and lots of music and noise. They thought it would be only their class – total of 28 people – but no. Most of the teens were either doing their stuff outside or got another room, but in the last half an hour, Asano met and counted up to 89 faces he knew from the school – some of the same grade, but mostly older. He still remembered their names, but remained absolutely perplexed as there should have been no reason for their presence – their exams have already been evaluated a week ago after all. So why would they celebrate only now, in addition with the first years?

The answer to that, which neither he, nor Karma knew, was that Asano Gakushuu the flawless and Akabane Karma the mischeivous were there. And if it's not obvious by now – they became the celebrities of this school. So who would be stupid enough to pass up this chance?

"This is weird," the redhead remarked, sitting next to her rival as he was the only one she felt more or less comfortable with.

"Do you think they don't know we know they are staring?" she nudged him.

"You could say," he whispered in her direction, taking a sip of his coctail.

"Remind me why we're here again,"

"You wanted to laugh at me in front of the whole class,"

"Oh yeah, the exams. What time is it?"

He took out his phone and almost got his eyes pierced by the sudden, strong light that attacked him. It was dark in the room, the only source of light being colours flashed by a disco ball (probably size of the brain of most people present, which means pretty small).

Once his eyes got rid of the temporary blindness, he read: "Seven twenty two," and after checking the notification box, "still nothing."

The girl rolled her eyes: "Such a pain," and she hit the sofa with a thud, hurting her back because damn, was it uncomfortable. She was trying to think of a single freaking reason why she shouldn't go home right this moment. First of all, it was boring. Her classmates were just picking random songs and screaming them – not singing, screaming- others were staring at her to the point it got unbearable. Also, there was a disturbing number of guys who wanted to either 1/ buy her drink, 2/ know what she was interested in (torturing annoying guys, thank you very much), 3/ sit so close to her she could smell their faul breath, 4/ get their guts punched out because yes, she was many things, but most surely not an armrest for them to put their filthy hands on.

She glanced at the boy next to her, scanning him. They had like two additional hours after school to prepare themselves for this party and he was still wearing formal clothing – a white shirt, black jacket similar to the school uniform and a yellow necktie which-

"You're wearing a yellow necktie?" she straightened up with the most disgusted face she could pull out.

And she got the same expression back: "Yeah, got a problem with that?"

"What the hell, you actually wear colours?"

It wasn't an exaggeration to say Asano wanted to kill.

"My father bought it for me in Tokyo and insisted I wear it," he answered a bit bitterly, although he didn't really mind a small change, "why do you care?"

"It's ugly," Karma retorted with a straight face.

Though to be honest, it wasn't ugly. Strange, maybe, but most definitely not ugly. Asano was the type of a pain in the ass that could wear almost anything and still look good. Yellow seemed like something too optimistic for him, but he pulls it out marvelously – it doesn't stand out like a trafic light, yet it manages to catch your attention and makes you think 'hey, it actually looks pretty fine'.

But Karma hasn't had good associations with this colour, so currently, she despised it and everything it represented.

"Would you for once just-"

DING

The room got filled with this particular sound and everyone stopped whatever they were doing, because it was undoubtedly-

"THE RESULTS!" One boy screamed out and the whole place got so noisy and dangerous the redhead and straberry blonde didn't dare move from their current spot in fear they'd be tread on in this chaos.

"I'M SEVENTY FIRST, FUCK YES!" an unknown person yelled out particulary loud.

"EIGHTY FOURTH!"

"TWENTY FIFTH!"

And so it went and went and went, until-

"FIRST!"

this word was heard.

Everyone shut up, because they couldn't make out clearly just whose that voice was. They turned around at the sofa to see Karma and Asano standing with a phone in their hands, staring at each other like they were about to wage war. But their faces got immediately replaced by those of absolute confusion, followed by horror.

Because they both said the word simultaneously.

"I'm first," Karma repeated, slowly, so everyone heard just well.

"No, I am," Gakushuu fought back but he was starting to realize what this meant.

"How many points do you have?"

"500, full score. You?"

"500,"

And once again, silence took over.

"We tied," Asano voiced out the obvious.

But to Karma, this was unacceptable: "No way in hell, what about the timing?"

"We know that we have the same time,"

"Ugh, true," the girl bit her lip.

Meanwhile, the room erupted into another wave of laughter, crying, wailing and shouting. It was difficult to tell whether those noises meant something bad or good since the only thing anyone could make out were words "HOLY SHIT" and "ARE YOU KIDDING ME".

However, all the ruckus eventually died out and they were back to the usual ear-piercing attempts of karaoke singing.

As far as Karma was concerned- her plan has been foiled and although she would never admit it, it hurt more than she thought was possible. It was hard to say why - because she made so much effort to actually _ensure_ she would win? Or because she was once again left to wonder for who knows how long? Whatever it was, it didn't change the fact that she was now sitting on the ugly piece of furniture in an ugly room with people she never really liked and a person whom she maybe liked too much who was also wearing a necktie of the ugliest colour in this world.

Her change in mood didn't go unnoticed by Asano. Frankly, he could have left her be, gone and enjoyed himself with others because despite everything else, he _was_ first and didn't have to abide by Akabane's ridiculous orders. But he didn't. Instead, he chose to sit next to her for twenty minutes, quietly, thinking of a way to enliven the atmosphere a bit.

"So... about the bet," he started, knowing very well that this was the stupidest thing he was about to do.

"Forget it," the redhead however cut him off.

"No, wait, I actually want to suggest something," he said and Karma raised an eyebrow questioningly. But she didn't shut him up so he took it as a cue to continue.

"Since we both won, why don't we like... both make a request? Or whatever it is that you wanted,"

And yeah, maybe he was nuts, but this posed to be quite a good opportunity for what he wanted to do and he doubted there would ever be another chance. That's why he decided to take the plunge.

"I will say mine first though," Asano cleared his throat, already feeling the rapid beat of his heart. Ugh, seriously. _Seriously_. This was so stupid. So silly. So so so so embarassing.

"G-go with me to the cinema. Next Saturday, 2 p.m. It's supposed to be a good film. And if you don't want to, use your right for a request to make me withdraw mine."

He never thought he could speak this quick but it turned out that he could, and it only took him one breath. Sure, he was feeling hot and dizzy now, but whatever.

However, judging from Karma's face, she might have not understood everything. She was looking at him with wide, confused eyes, not saying anything.

Was it too quick? Or did she not hear it because of the karaoke? Or was this such a bad request she couldn't help but UGH WHATEVER GODDAMN IT

"Forget what I said while I go and bury myself, please forget that you know me I'm nothing but air, just an ilusion that your mind created to kill time, so-"

"Okay,"

This sudden response made him freeze.

"What?" he almost choked, the blood in his face making it hard to focus.

"Okay, let's go," she repeated louder this time, and was that blush he saw?

"You... agree?" He asked sheepishly and if he wasn't red before, he was bloody flaring now.

"Yeah, sounds fun,"

With that, she broke the eye contact, suddenly eyeing her drink that became like thousand times more interesting than before. Because it was so... odd. Just a while ago, she was bored out of her mind, listening to the worse singing ever, sitting on the most uncomfortable sofa, suffering the most awkward half an hour of her life, spending it with the most obnoxious person she knew, yet at this very moment, all the bad disappeared. It was like in that dream of hers. The boring setup of a classroom that suddenly shifted to a medow of flowers, though this time, they weren't burning. They were blooming. And they weren't that ugly anymore, not even though they were yellow and too optimistic to be true.

She could remember how happy she felt in that dream, but if that was what one would call happiness, then what she felt right now was a bliss.

And it took both of them about another ten minutes of dull staring and thinking, loading, loading, _loading_ , until it clicked that...

Asano asked Akabane out,

and she said _yes._


	14. Chapter 14

**HELLO HELLO! I AM ON TIME FOR ONCE AND BRING YOU A LONG CHAPTER THAT I THINK YOU WILL (HOPEFULLY) LIKE!**

 **I did my best not to make this just a romantic,"Blushing, blushing, watashino kokoro," stuff, because honestly, it doesn't fit all that much with those two (do you know what I mean?) They are like... too asshole-lish and smug for that. So I tried to add more humour into it (though I suck at humour, forgive me T.T)**

 **Okay, Once again, Thank you very much for the praises you give me and am so happy you like this story!**

* * *

"For the love of God, what _is_ this?" Karma widened her eyes at the sight in front of her.

She was told that Asano would pick her up at eleven a.m. Honestly, she expected to have him standing in front of her door with a formal suit and serious frown. And maybe also funeral flowers. The point is - she thought she was prepared for anything. What, it turns out, she did not expect was a freakingly luxurious-looking black car driven by a personal chauffeur stopping at the sidewalk and the strawberry blonde in the most casual-hot-elegant attire she has _ever_ seen him holding out the car door for her. He just had a white shirt with soft blue, pink, red stripes from the torso up, simple brown pants and a checkered shirt wrapped around his hip and yet, why, _why why why why did he look so handsome in it?!_

"We are going to see a film," the boy deadpanned, still leaving the door open.

It took the girl some time to return to this world and process what he just said.

"In a cinema which is like ten minutes by train. Why... this?" she pointed at the vehicle.

"Oh, I might have made a mistake when invinting you. We're not going to a cinema."

"What?"

"Look, I... uh, whatever, you'll see," and it took a few more minutes for him to persuade her that _no, this was not a ruse to take her to a deserted place and dispose of without witnesses,_ until they both hopped into the backseats.

Obviously, it was quite a shock for Karma to see that Asano could afford such special treatment, despite it being a common knowledge that his family is quite wealthy and famous. But like, her family budget wasn't much behind and do they have a private chauffeur and a fancy auto?

No.

All she has is a huge, empty house and a family that is almost never there. And when yes, makes lots of noise and commotion.

"So? What is this about?" she finally asked the boy next to her, moving her sight from the window. It's not like the trees and roads would suddenly run away if she didn't look, right?

"I got tickets to a very popular cinematography festival and thought it would be a waste not to use them. I heard the place is very nice, there's lots of various food and the film has many positive reviews, so why not? The only con was the long ride, so I for sure arranged to get there in the comfort of our car. That's all," he calmly explained, handing her one of the invitations he received.

They indeed seemed to radiate the "lavishness" with the cursive letters and beautiful cover. The redhead then flipped it over to read a bit of summary about the place and things it offered.

Meanwhile, Gakushuu carried on giving her information: "If you need anything, just say so. We have some drinks and food in here, a television, books or some games. Though I don't recommend doing anything that requires focus, you can get sick. Do you get motion sickness?"

"I don't know, never rode a car longer than ten minutes," she shrugged.

"No?" the strawberry blonde raised an eyebrow.

"No, I use trains and buses like normal people," she snorted.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what she implied.

"I'm not a spoilt rich brat," he protested immediately, only to be given with a sarcastic grin.

"Of course,"

"I'm not,

"I never said you are,"

"Your face does. It's literally screaming _spoilt rich brat,"_

At that, the girl bursted out laughing. Asano's face was slightly red from embarrassment and the look in his eyes! It became something of a habit for her to push him even further.

"Well you see, it would only take an hour and half with a bus or an hour with a train, so it's not really such a long ride. Nothing a normal person would have problems with. But well, you are a not used to anything below _luxurious_ , are you? That's daddy's boy for you," she said jokingly, thinking that this would make for a good 'chat' for the rest of the ride.

It's not like she really thought he was riding his father's coattales, because he really wasn't. Sure, the first few months she knew him she thought he was the same like the chairman - craving power, lacking conscience and having no problem whatsoever using others to his profit. But that was not the case. Gakushuu wanted to be more than a king. He wanted to be a leader, someone the others would look up to, not only fear. He was trying to surpass the chairman using his own method, prove that he is different and that even then, he could be stronger.

Maybe that was one of the reasons she fell in love with him.

"Okay, that's it," the student council president sighed, his expression suddenly dark.

Karma flinched at the change of mood. Did she cross the line?

"Stop the car at the next bus stop please. I'm getting out," Asano ordered, his voice bearing hint of hurt.

"Wait, what?" the redhead widened her eyes.

"Sir, are you sure?" the chauffeur asked, but got promptly cut off with a sharp _yes._

Once the car stopped, he walked out. Before that though, he instructed: "Take miss Akabane to the festival, I will arrive a bit later."

"Where the hell are you going?"

"Taking a bus, m'lady, for I shall prove you wrong," he overly sweetly answered and then slammed the door.

Honestly, he knew he was being ridiculous. For such a remark from Akabane to irritate him to this point... But he really felt bad. Not only bad - angry, but also betrayed. Her words hurt because it was something many people told him before already. That he was just using his father's power, that he was nothing but a snob with a silver spoon handed to him. It didn't matter much to him from others, but it did matter when it came to this girl, because this girl wasn't jealous, wasn't stupid, she was just being herself - honest and blunt. So if she really thought of him this way... what should he do?

It was probably stupid of him to walk out of the car, but what was he supposed to do?

He was so looking forward to this date. He really was. And he just ruined it.

"Stupid," he muttered to himself but almost got a heart attack when someone roughly grabbed his arm.

"Stupid indeed, what do you think you're doing?!" Karma huffed, her face flushed from having run after him.

Asano didn't answer. That encouraged her to carry on.

"Okay, I might have said something I shouldn't, but I was just joking, alright? I just wanted to liven up the mood a bit. Sorry if I hurt you, because I didn't mean to," she explained with a serious look. Asano never knew seriousness could ever fit that mischeivous face, or that hurt would ever fit his, but here they stood.

"No," he sighed, rubbing his forehead, "I'm sorry. My fault for being butthurt,"

"Truly surprising, never dreamt of you having feelings," she attempted another joke. Thankfully it didn't do that much of a damage like before. The boy snorted, shaking his head. But it cooled him down

It really took just a few words from her and he cooled down.

So silly.

"Well? What do we do now?" the redhead suddenly reminded them of their situation. There was almost no one on the road, their car has already disappeared and the bus nowhere to be found.

"We ride a bus," the strawberry blonde stated as if it was obvious.

"Wha-"

"You said we could ride a bus like normal people. Your wish is my command," he bowed in like a knight would to his princess. However, a bit more sarcastically.

"No, but-"

"C'mon, not chickening out, are you?"

"Asano, are you aware of what day it is today?"

"Saturday, why?"

"The bus rides every two hours on Saturdays and Sundays, that's why."

For a while, they stood there looking at each other in silence.

"Shit," he groaned.

They waited for it another hour and half.

* * *

"I'm not going to repeat that it's your fault that we arrived here at two p.m. instead of half past twelve, but it's your fault we arrived here at two p.m. instead of half past twelve," Karma muttered as she stepped into the building where the cinematography festival was held.

Huge.

"Shut up," the latter replied, equally done.

"I'm hungry," she complained and the boy sympathized, "I'm literally starving,"

"Let's go grab something," he suggested.

"You're paying, got it?"

"Sure, sure," the boy sighed.

"I'm going to drain your wallet, I swear," Karma said under her breath, but it wasn't like Asano didn't hear it. But well, this was something he had invited her to, so she had the right to drain his budget. Also, he was well prepared when it came to finances and contac-

"Where is my phone?!" he let out a shriek that horrifying Karma would think a puppy was dying if she wasn't standing next to him.

Asano searched through all his pockets, but found nothing. He remembered taking it this morning, checking for sure that he has enough credit, that he has Karma's phone number on speed dial, that the ringtone is on 100% in case she called! And yet...

"You probably left it in the car," the redhead announced, noting how the sight in front of her was pitiful. The oh so perfect student-council president looked ready to cry.

"Doesn't matter, but if we don't want to get lost, we have to stick together," the girl casually declared. Then, she not-so casually hinted: "We could just for sure hold hands so that we don't seperate in this crowd,"

God knows how much blood just came rushing to her face.

Why the _hell_ did she say that.

"Forget it," she turned somewhere else so that she would at least somehow hide how much her cheeks were burning.

But at that moment, Asano's warm hand took hers and squeezed it tight. He didn't say a word about it, only lead them further inside.

It was a nice feeling.

Their fingers intertwined.

It was so nice.

"Do want the nikuman steamed buns?" he asked out of blue, his tone gentle and somehow... so loving.

The redhead looked properly at where they were standing. There were many street food boots with all kinds of really delicious looking treats. But sweets would have to wait.

"Yeah, sounds good," she nodded and the boy then went to buy two, the absence of his hand somehow unbearable.

The nikuman tasted better than ever before - might have also been because it costed twice the normal price (damn the overpriced food at festivals). Or because she was starving. Either way, they both finished the bun in less than five minutes, still craving more.

So next up was Takoyaki. Damn luscious, but frankly, Koro-sensei's was better.

Another thing that caught Akabane's attention was an octopus on a skewer with soy sauce - Ikayaki. And holy mother of apples, _was it good._

"I can't believe something this creepy can taste this good," she grinned and bit off its head.

"I can't believe I find you violently chewing on an octopus adorable," he nonchalantly replied.

It surely made her heart stop for a while, but this wasn't the time to become a ball of blush: "I can't believe you let go of my hand, what if someone kidnaps me?"

"I'd be actually more worried about the kidnapper, but alright," he lifted their hands and joined them in front of her so that she would get a proper look that he was doing it consciously, "I won't leave the poor scared you alone,"

Whatever it was that came out of her, it didn't sound composed _at all_.

The boy just bit into his octopus (oh, memories) while Karma only stared: "Do you realize we just flirted?"

"Hmm," he didn't even look up, "so?"

"I think you're adorable too,"

Now he did look up.

"Especially when you buy me food," she added.

"Thanks," Asano laughed - so melodiously Karma was sure she has never heard a sound more precious. She doubted there were many people who got the privilege to hear it. Or any at all.

"Then I guess I should go and get you more," he walked up to another stall, "Dango?"

"Damn yeah, and I wonder why you're so generous today," the redhead grinned as she got three sticks with colourful dango balls, "trying to atone for all your sins?"

"Nope, just bribing the Satan himself with street food and sweets. See, I'd like to have a room with acclimatization since it's so hot in hell."

"Don't worry, you deserve nothing but the throne beside me," she replied, amused.

"But does the throne have acc?" he played along.

"I'm not sure. We can buy one later though,"

Gakushuu pretended absolute shock: "You can find _electronics stores_ there?"

And here it was. Karma started waving with her dango like teachers would do with their teacher-sticks when explaining a subject, her face very proffesional and knowledgable: "Of course, they never told you? The quality of hell electronics is head and shoulders above that of Earth. Also if you want, we can go to a Home shop. If I remember right, they will have sale on skulls, decorative fire and the souls of sinners. And I think that since _I_ will be coming there, they will give us a wonderful deal. After all, I control it there."

"We," he corrected her, "we control it. And souls of sinners are no fun, they don't scream. I prefer souls of those sentenced to eternal torture, they make for a marvelous entertainment."

Karma chuckled. At that moment, she noticed that they were being stared at. Actually there were at least four people looking at them with creeped out faces (not so surprisngly), two of them whispering whether they should call the mental hospital or not.

It would be wise to silently disappear and pretend nothing happened, but the girl was never the type to feel embarrased of who she was. Or what.

"I found newcomers," she told her partner, loud enough for the four strangers to hear her, "Can I hang them on the wall?"

But Asano wasn't that perky anymore.

He froze. Literally.

You might not know it yet, but once it came to the public, his brain switched into _must-be-perfect_ mode. Being seen sputtering such crazy nonsense did a great damage to that mode. Therefore, he just turned around and scuttled away in the speed of light. He heard Akabane's laughter behind, but at this very moment, he didn't care, because he thought that he was going to _die._

"Hey Asano, no need to run! If you don't fancy hanging people, we can always grill them!" she jokingly shouted, almost crying, because this was truly hilarious.

Asano, on the other hand, cried for real.

* * *

After the two of them calmed down, the strawberry blonde decided (for the sake of his sanity) to actually have a look at the festival. They started off with History section, where they read a few captions with pictures and short videos about the way first films were created and about what technologies were used.

He found it very intriguing.

She - not that much. After seeing 2 mini films about the Lumiere brothers, 1 about how they worked and another one about how their work affected society, she had just enough.

Now, they were watching the process of production.

"This is boring,"

"Shh," he hushed her, "I can't hear the commentary,"

"It's literally about _paper quality_ ,"

* * *

"So, remember how I said we shouldn't seperate?" Karma said, subtly trying to sneak her hand out of his.

"Yeah?"

"I take it back. We should seperate,"

* * *

Gakushuu knew that the redhead didn't really care about this technical stuff and all, but they were almost done with this section! It would be such a waste not to finish it.

So he thought he would earn some more of her patience with another batch of sweets. Taiyaki - fish shaped cake with custard and chocolate, particulary.

He did.

* * *

The torment called _education on a date_ has finally ended, but with that, a whole new unpleasant journey began.

"I need to go to the toilet," The girl said, looking around.

"Yeah, me too,"

"Where are they even?"

Silence befell on them and they realized that they had absolutely no idea and means to find out about their whereabouts and the whereabouts of the toilets.

Also, this building was enormous and had four floors.

Oh god.

* * *

"It's going to be six soon," the strawberry blonde announced, beckoning at the clock on the walls.

"Are we going home already?"

"No, we still have a film to see,"

Karma raised an eyebrow: "What film?"

"Who knows? But the tickets give us an access to the premier of a film that supposedly airs this month," he explained, slightly sheepish, because he was hiding a small detail. Okay, he didn't know the genre of the film, but was aware of the fact that they wouldn't be watching it the traditional way.

There was a big pond outside the building, about twenty small canoes on it and in the front of this all one huge projection screen. Since it was still only spring, the air started to get cold and soon, the sky would be as dark as ink. The staff was already lighting up countless of candles all around, making them look like small fireflies, and preparing blankets in case any couples felt cold.

You heard right.

This was a premium set up for _couples_. And also the one thing Asano had planned all along, too embarrassed to tell the girl.

"Wow," Karma gasped as she took in the sight, "what is this supposed to be?"

The student council president felt pretty nervous, but his voice somehow managed to stay calm: "It seems we will be watching the film on a boat," then he took her hand and lead her towards one of those wooden canoes. Also, they took the blanket.

"Didn't know something like this existed," she grinned as she hopped on her seat.

"Neither did I, but we learn new things everyday," the strawberry blonde replied.

So strange. His heart was beating so fast he'd think it would explode any time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the film will start in two minutes," an unknown person suddenly announced through the speakers and all other people were already positioned, mainly in the middle of the pond.

"Ready?" Asano turned at the redhead, receiveing a nod.

"Alright," he smiled and their ship started sailing. _(pun intended)_

Soon, the sky truly darkened and the screen lightened up, indicating the start of the film.

It told a story of a blind man who fell in love with a woman that helped him get over the street. About how their frienship began - going for a coffee, having a light-hearted conversation, how they found out about their similarites. And then how it all evolved into something more than mutual understanding. It showed the hardships this relationship had to go through - insecurities, misunderstandings, feelings of worthelesness.

Karma never knew she was capable of it, but she actually _cried._

She wailed even more when the film ended - with the woman realizing she couldn't do it anymore, the man accepting that reality and living on.

Everything going back to zero.

Them living like strangers.

"I hate this film," she choked out while sobbing, "I hate it so much,"

"I don't," Asano whispered, giving her a handkerchief.

"When this film airs, I will rate it with one star," she said, but they both knew it was a lie.

"It was pretty... sad," he admitted. Truthfully, he was slightly tearing up many times as well, but couldn't afford to lose his cool in front Akabane.

"It's even worse knowing that they still loved each other, even after breaking up," she said, no longer crying, but her eyes still red.

The two of them then quietly sat on the canoe for some time. Five minutes. Then ten. Then fifteen. There was no source of light apart from the candles which only let them see things that were at most one meter from them. But that was enough. All they needed was to see each other.

"You knew what this film was about in advance, didn't you? I bet you wanted to see me heartbroken. Well, here I am," the redhead finally calmed down, already joking.

"No, I didn't," the latter denied, "but seeing you heartbroken is quite a spectacular sight indeed,"

"Asshole," she laughed and the silence took over again.

Until,

"But I knew that we would be watching it in a canoe for two," he confessed, determined to tell her how he feels.

That drew Karma's attention.

"I was lying earlier, when I said I was bribing you to get a room with acc," he tried to mask his nervousity with humour.

"You want a private bathroom too?"

"I want to hold your hand like this more," he looked straight into the beautiful golden orbs.

"I want to hold your hand when we walk in the streets, warm it up in the winter when you forget your gloves and kiss it when you least expect it,"

Karma was too struck to give him any funny, mischeivous comment, which the strawberry blonde appreciated.

"And if you ask me what today was, then I will be honest. It was a date, which took me all courage I had to ask you on and which I was looking forward to so much I couldn't sleep properly for the last week. Which explains my mood swing today, now that I mention it,"

The girl snorted, rolling her eyes.

"What I mean to say is," he took a deep breath, and then finally let it out: "Will you go out with me?"

It didn't take a genius to see that she was pretty moved. The girl couldn't help grinning like an idiot, because she was an idiot, an idiot for spending so much time with this idiot, for falling into his trap of love.

They were both idiots.

"Depends on your answer to my question," she playfully replied.

"And that is?"

She took her time with that question of hers. It made Asano anxious.

"Will you buy me another chocolate Taiyaki?"

At this, he burst out laughing, unable to believe he thought she was going to say anything important.

"No way, you had four already!" he joked, leaning closer to her.

"Oh, but if my sugar level is low, I'm grumpy and won't like you at all!" she threatened.

"You little," Asano poked her in the armpits, which she did not expect. That's why she jerked her body too much and felt herself falling over the edge of the tiny canoe.

Of course, she didn't fail to take him too.

With a loud _splash_ , the pair ended in cold, _freezing_ water, their ship upside down.

After lots of gagging and cursing, they finally found each other.

"Alright, I'm totally _not_ dating you after this!" Karma splashed some water at his face, happy despite no longer feeling her fingers from the cold.

"Shame," the strawberry blonde chuckled and then stayed there, staring at her. Even with her hair messy, wet and sticking to her face, with this horrible lighting and situation, she seemed perfect. He wondered when he has ever thought that she wasn't.

It was a bold move, but at the moment, it was the only thing he wanted to do.

And he desperately needed to do it.

Slowly approaching her, he picked stray hair on the side of her face, put it over her ear,

and then kissed her.


	15. Chapter 15

**I am ultimately high, just ate two boxes of chocolate (I love chocolate so much) so I warn you, this chapter is weird.**

 **Of course, you _have_ to read it because I freaking love it, just be prepared to deal with me absolutely losing it.**

 **You have been warned.**

* * *

 **BONUS (continues on from the previous chapter)**

 _Slowly approaching her, he picked stray hair on the side of her face, put it over her ear, and then kissed her._

A fraction of second later, he got slapped so hard the whole country heard it.

"Ouch," the people around sympathized.

"Ouch," his father 200 km far away sympathized.

"Ouch," his non-existent mother sympathized.

"Rest in peace," god laughed his ass off, hitting Satan's back while Satan himself choked on tears. They were having a film-day by the way, eating popcorn and watching the most embarrasing kisses and love confessions in the world.

Asano Gakushuu x Akabane Karma was their ultimate ship ( ≖ิ‿≖ิ )

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" The redhead shrieked in horror after being kissed, jerking her head away and violently wiping away any traces of Asano's mentol taste on her lips. She would swear he had to chew at least ten mint chewing gums before kissing her because even her stomach could smell it despite having no ocular cells. And since mint is green, green means veggie, veggie means healthy and healthy is totally not her style, she started throwing up all 5 kilogrames of sweets she ate earlier.

Meanwhile, the strawberry blonde wondered whether there was any point in his life anymore.

There wasn't, so he stopped swimming and drowned.

The end ლ(◉◞౪◟◉ )ლ

* * *

 **Nope, that didn't happen XD But I seriously considered including it in the actual chapter. (Un)fortunately, the romance-loving side of me beat the troll-me bloody and unconsciouss and burried me deep into the ground from which I have just managed to crawl up from to publish this :D**

* * *

 **Continuation #1**

God had mercy and saved Gakushuu from permanent respiratory impairment and death.

However, he couldn't save the tooth that fell when he got slapped.

That tooth, let's name it John, fell into a different dimension where it met other teeth. They were very ambitious and set their goal to change the world - through education.

This story is about John and his friends in college, trying to pay off the debt and dying of starvation.

* * *

 **Sorry, not sorry.**

* * *

 **Continuation #2**

Satan highfived Karma.

"Good job, darling,"

They highfived again and he asked her out. She refused him and slapped him too.

* * *

 **I haven't done a chapter this mad in such a long time, it's a great feeling trolling people :D**

 **I just want to remind you that in the previous chappie, Karma said "I'm definitely not dating you after this," when Asano asked if she wants to date him. Of course, we know that was a joke and that those two are craaaaaaaaazy in love with each other buuuut when someone asks...**

* * *

"So, Gakushuu-kun, how did your plans go?" the former chairman asked him once the strawbery blonde got home. Of course, still wet, which made the man raise an eyebrow.

The boy wasn't surprised that his father figured out what this date was about, but decided to have some fun with it.

"She rejected me," he pretended to be heartbroken, lying down on the floor. In the end, he wasn't lying, was he?

"WHAT" The man spatted and jumped up from the sofa, running to his son who was messing up their carpet with pond water, "NO WAY, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Asano started crying crocodile tears.

"NONONONO DON'T CRY MY SON, I KNOW IT HURTS BUT REMEMBER," he cupped the teens face into his palms, "Your father will always love you,"

Ew.

"Miss Akabane was surely just too embarrassed and struck to properly understand what you told her, wait, I will take care of this for y-"

"Holy fuck don't you dare brainwash her," the boy sat up in alert.

"Haha, w-who said I was gonna brainwash her?" the man nervously laughed and inconspiciously hid the phone and his book of dark magic spells behind his back.

"Then why are you holding the phone and your bible of dark magic?"

The chairman winked a few times and threw those items away, breaking their window, hitting a cat which jumped on a passerby, scratched his eyes out, resulting in the person falling and hiting a car, making its alarm beep for the next seven hours.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he smiled innocently, "Silly boy,"

* * *

 **I really should do these kinds of things more often XDDD**

 **Or should I? Tell me whether you like these cheesy insanities I write (๑ゝڡ◕๑)**

 **Okay, till later, byeeeeeee**


	16. Chapter 16

**I LOVE YOU GUYS 3 NOW I'M GOING TO DIE HAHAHA FUNCTIONING ON 7 HOURS OF SLEEP IN THE LAST TWO AND HALF DAYS HAHAHA SEND HELP**

 **Anyway, thank you for reviewing the latest insane chapter XD There were both positive and negative feedbacks which I kind of expected - it is true that most people will enjoy it, but I have to admit that a spin-off is never really _enough_ and that when you see a notification that a story has been updated, you'd expect more. So I guess more such surprises XD T.T**

 **I hope you will like this one :)**

* * *

More than a week has passed since their first date and although it was quite embarrassing at first, they soon got back to the usual relationship they had, meaning: pissing each other off. However, unlike before, they also got into the habit of making it up to the other one later. It wasn't anything big, for example, all that it took for Asano to calm down was for Karma to take his hand and smile. All it took for the redhead to calm down was a brief hug or Asano's gentle face when he spaced out while staring at the girl, thinking that she didn't know. They weren't used to open displays of affection, no sudden pecks, no goodbye kisses, "I love you"-s, no such thing. Yet there was absolutely no doubt.

One would even consider it unthinkable, but they were in love.

"Does that even make sense?" She asked while sitting on the couch, nestled in Asano's arms.

"None at all," he snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Then why are we dating?" she looked up at him curiously.

The sight of his - yes, _his -_ girlfriend never ceased to make his breath hitch.

The strawberry blonde thankfully avoided choking and abruptly turned his head: "Who cares? Seriously, you're impossible,"

He grabbed a handful of popcorn which the girl was holding and stuffed it into her mouth: "Here, eat and watch the TV,"

Which of course didn't please her at all.

Karma bit his finger and then spit the popcorn at his face.

Out of love, obviously.

* * *

Unlike one would suppose, their relationship wasn't a full-out war, nor a constant calamity of arguments and jealousy. In fact, they went along better than expected. Sure, Akabane still loved to make her boyfriend's life hell, her boyfriend loved to curse her, but in the end, they were still Mr. and Mrs. Rulers of the Underworld. Even though there were many girls who clung to Asano, girls who might have looked better, been sweeter and much more lady-like, she never had to worry about being forgotten. One, she _always_ reminded Asano of her presence (in many interesting ways), two, she knew that these types of girls would only bore him. What he sought was not a peaceful domestic life. He craved adventure, something to stimulate his brain, someone to make his heart either stop or race in the split of a second.

However, there was one grave mistake that Karma made in their relationship.

Call it fate, bad luck or coincidence, but the fact was inevitable.

"No," Karma breathed out in horror as she stood in the hall of her house, noticing one thing.

Shoes.

"No," she repeated, taking a step back, "No, no, no, no, _no!"_

The sheer terror in her voice made the strawberry blonde next to her extremely worried: "What? What's wrong?"

"This _can't_ be happening,"

And she already wanted to silently sneak out while there was still hope, even though it was late, even though she would probably have to stay at Asano's - whatever would be better than _this_. But that hope of hers shattered right away. Because she has been noticed.

"Karma?"

A voice - _third voice -_ asked cheerfully and there were footsteps getting closer.

" _Run_ ," the redhead urged the student council president who took way too freaking long to realize what was happening, still standing at one place with confusion apparent on his face. For being that smart he was so stupid.

It made sense once they spotted a woman in her late thirties, her traits too similar to the person Asano called his girlfriend.

At that very moment, the time stopped - or so it seemed - and the three stood frozen, trying to process who the heck they were looking at. Well, not Karma. Karma knew exactly what kind of shit they just got into.

"Hello," the strawberry blonde then bowed, his voice confident despite the cold sweat running down his spine.

"Hello," the woman - Karma's mother - replied, the tone cold and wary.

"Honey? What's taking you so lo-" another person came in, a man a head taller than the woman. However, before he could finish his sentence, he stopped in his tracks upon seeing that there was a person that actually didn't belong to his family (yet).

Not letting the uncomfortable silence take over again, Asano panicked and bowed again: "Hello,"

Karma internally facepalmed seventy-five times already.

"Hello," her father nodded and then they stood there for another two minutes, not sure what to do.

Actually, they could have been there for another hour were it not for Karma's impatience and desire to get this done with as soon as possible. She wasn't particularly happy about seeing those two back, honestly.

"Asano, this is my parents. Mom, Dad, this is Asano Gakushuu. My classmate."

She decided to leave out the fact that he was also her boyfriend, obviously. But it was for the sake of her and Asano's sanity, for the sanity of her parents as well as for the sanity of the insanity of their relationship.

Understanding the game she was playing, the strawberry blonde acted accordingly: "It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Akabane,"

"Likewise," they both gave him a smile. And all would have been fine if not for the fact that he felt the same uneasiness like a prey hunted by an eagle would.

* * *

"I deem myself to have very good instincts and right now, they are telling me to _run,_ " was the first thing he whispered once the couple locked itself in Karma's room, sure that no one would hear them.

"Good work, Second-place-kun's instincts because seriously - _run,"_ she emphasized and narrowed her eyes.

"My pride won't allow me to do that, but I'd like to know why exactly my guts and you are telling me to scutter."

The girl rolled her eyes: "Look, peanut brain, if it isn't already obvious, tell me - what am I?"

"The most annoying, devilish, mischievous nutjobs I have ever met," he deadpanned.

"Exactly. And do you think it took two pure angels to create me?"

The realization hit him like a train.

"Holy shit,"

" _Cursed_ shit, because there is absolutely nothing holy about this house or its residents. Maybe mom's genius ideas of revenge, but that's something different," Karma corrected him, remembering that one time her mother found out about an older kid annoying her in her second grade and then traumatizing till the rest of his life (even though the girl could have done it herself).

"The point is, they are shitty parents, always gone, always on a business trip and not really much of a support, but once they come home, they act like they have been here all the time, like they know and care about me. Not to mention they can be overly protective and fretty when it comes to these kinds of things," she sighed and let herself fall into the bed.

The latter followed in her steps and now they were lying next to each other, face to face.

"So having a boyfriend now would make things complicated for you?" he asked, but there was no bite to his voice.

"I'm sorry," and she really was.

Asano snorted: "That's a first,"

Karma would have punched him if it weren't for the fact that this particular snort was one of the few very cute ones.

The boy then stood up, stretching himself: "So we will just play it cool and be classmates working on a project, right?"

"Sure, that is if you can pull it out, Mister _Romeo,_ " she referred to the time their class tried to play out "Romeo and Juliet".

"Oh shut up, unlike you, I played my role marvelously."

"Your sorry of an act made me want to throw a tomato at your face," she laughed.

"You did throw a tomato at my face though," he flinched at the memory.

"Oh yeah," Karma shrugged, "well, that just confirms it,"

"No, it doesn't. You just wanted to throw something at me, it has nothing to do with my acting skills which are by the way exceptional and you can't tell me otherwise,"

"Touché,"

And despite what has just been said, they both knew that neither lying nor acting was anything new to either of them. After all, Asano was trained to keep a strong facade and to be nice to people who he'd rather kick in the face or step on. And Karma was just too experienced in mystificating people.

That's why it came to them as such a shock when they were seen through right away.

They were called into the living room with tea prepared and the parents sitting across.

"You never told us you had a boyfriend, Karma," her mother then stated nonchalantly, sipping her cup.

At that, the teens choked.

"W-what are you talking ab-" the girl stuttered while trying not to cough her lungs out.

"Save the act, we're not stupid," the woman sighed.

Discomfort started growing in Karma's stomach, but she refused to let it influence her. Sure, those were her parents, but those who rarely bothered to stay with her. So why would they suddenly care so much? Even if they didn't agree with her relationship, what right did they have to suddenly interfere with her life after leaving her to her own devices for so long? All this bitterness turned into something different - determination, maybe - to stand her ground and keep the one thing that's making her life at least a bit more interesting. Or rather, the one person.

Asano, on the other hand, was mortified.

He was raised by a monster so when he saw one (two), he recognized it (them) right away. Though unlike the chairman, those two didn't seem like cruel, bloodthirsty demons wishing death upon everyone standing in their way. He hoped. Or at least not the father (maybe because he hasn't spoken much yet). Karma's mother was a different matter though.

"Alright then," the redhead's words cut through the thick silence, "This is Asano Gakushuu, my classmate, _and_ boyfriend. Do you have a problem with that?"

 _Holy f-_ she was _daring them._

And it freaking worked.

The two adults looked at her, then at each other, equally puzzled. Or maybe stunned. The boy couldn't really tell.

"No," in the end, they sighed in defeat, "At least not yet,"

Gakushuu wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or afraid of what's about to come.

He found out right away.

"We'd just love to have a small talk with Asano-kun here, if you don't mind. You know, the usual get-to-know each other," they smiled - innocently, mind you - which terrified the boy even more.

"So I was thinking, Asano-kun, are you perhaps son of Asano Gakuho?" the man finally spoke up and for some reason, the strawberry blonde felt a bit safer in the presence of this person rather than the woman.

"Yes, I am," he admitted.

To which the adults smiled, looked at each other and responded with a simple: "Ah,"

Both teens knew that didn't mean anything good.

"That's such a coincidence, we used to be in the same class with your father," Mr. Akabane proclaimed with the same face though there was a subtle trace of... what, annoyance?

"By the way, are you also the class president?"

"Yes,"

Another _Ah._

"I suppose you are at the top of your class?"

At this, the redhead that has been silent the whole time couldn't help but snort. She very proudly answered for him: "If _at the top_ means losing to me in the last finals and tying with me only recently, then yes, he is totally at the top,"

Asano shot her an irritated glance.

Her parents on the other seemed to beam with happiness. What was it with the Akabanes' that they loved his suffering so much?

"Oh yeah, What about you invite your father here? We are almost done with dinner and there's lots of it, I'm sure he would _love_ to see his old classmate after such a long time," Karma's dad suggested and frankly, it was more of an order than anything else.

"Wait, what?" his wife frowned.

"No worries, we have matured already, there won't be a problem," he assured her and then insisted the boy calls his father over.

Therefore, Gakushuu didn't have much of a choice. Yet he still hoped that the former chairman would refuse since he is always busy and away for work. However, luck never liked him and his father very happily (just as happily as Akabane's parents) agreed.

* * *

If the situation when he met Mr. and Mrs. Akabane for the first time was awkward, then the situation now was downright _excruciating_.

There sat the three adults, on their face a smile that would look just perfect if it actually reached their eyes as well. The Karushuu pair was further away from their parents, wishing for this nightmare to end.

"Asano," the redheaded male finally said, had his hand held out, waiting for a shake.

"Akabane," the former chairman gracefully took it into a firm grip.

"It has been a very long time, hasn't it?" they still didn't stop shaking their hands.

"Indeed, a very long time," their grip was tightening with every word.

"Are you doing well?"

"Wonderful, what about you and your lovely wife?" Gakushuu thinks he saw their knuckles get white.

"Likewise, thank you for asking," Karma is now one hundred percent sure that they hate each other.

They carried on with the forceful formalities whilst wearing the nice expressions and it was starting to freak the teens out.

" _Let's run for it,_ " Karma whispered when she thought their parents were too busy not trying to kill each other.

" _Now?"_

 _"Yes, while we still can,"_ she urged him.

 _"Fine, whatever, please,"_

And like that, Gakushuu excused himself to the restroom and Karma pretended to go get herself another cup of tea. It went well because currently, the conversation got a bit heated up.

"Are you still obsessed with centipedes?" Mr. Akabane radiated something akin to murderous intent. They were both standing right now, dangerously close.

"Are you still scared of spiders?" Asano senior retorted back and the two men looked as if ready to slit each others' throat with a tablespoon.

"At least I don't go around brainwashing people,"

"Such a shame I couldn't brainwash you, but well, since you lack a brain..."

"I had enough brains to burn you in the mathematics showdown,"

"That was literally _twenty-seven_ years ago," The brunette huffed.

"You're still as dense as ever though,"

"Haha, that's another thing you beat me at - being dense. I can never dream of reaching your level,"

"I can help you reach the hell though,"

"What, are you inviting me over?" Asano Gakuho laughed.

"Oh, I'm going t-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU TWO!" suddenly, the woman yelled at them. It was only then that the two adults (giant kids) stopped stabbing each other with stares, backing down in sheer terror instead because holy shit, _could women get any scarier?!_

"I have been listening to this nonsense for five years straight, then finally got some peace and now, after god knows how long, the first thing you do after begging to have him come over is starting another war?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"But dear-"

"DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE,"

"Ann-chan, calm do-" the former chairman tried to smooth things out.

"WATCH IT, GAKUHO OR I SHOVE THE ENTIRETY OF MY KITCHENWARE DOWN YOUR THROAT,"

And since all three of them knew she was capable of it, they shut their lips tight and sat down like good kids, eyes glued to the ground.

* * *

"So your mom is the boss of the family?" Asano asks, over a kilometer away from the Akabane residence.

"Yes, basically," the girl nodded, getting goose bumps.

"Not _only_ of your family though," he referred to how easily she tamed even the monster he called his father.

"Apparently,"

"It seems the origins of our mutual hatred dates back to our fathers," and the teens find it quite interesting. Yet they shrug it off because suddenly, there were few people around, the streets serene and sunset warming them up.

It is then that Gakushuu slowly takes Karma's hand into his own.

"Does it even matter?"

* * *

AYAAA

 **This chapter was quite different, I know, not that much of fluff but I hoped to make it up with the parents thing XD I mean, I thought it would be interesting to give them some background as well, no? Btw, I hate giving non-existent (in canon) characters names so I tried to avoid it but at the very end, I had to give Karma's mother a name so I decided on Ann. I hope it isn't so weird, sorry :/**

 **Well, I hope you tell me about your opinion an** d see you later, byee :)


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